Thursday, January 23, 2014

‘The Nut Job’ Biggest debut of an independent animated film ever in U.S. opens January 22. Nationwide!

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Breaking through the animated film industry dominated by likes of Disney and Dreamworks was apparently not a hard nut to crack for “The Nut Job”. It ranked number 3 when it raked in $27 million over the weekend making it the biggest opening for an animated film that wasn’t produced by a major studio.

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With the film’s striking animation and unique storyline, it manages to impress in this competitive genre of computer generated images. It is no surprise that children to watch among the other animated films. Will Arnett, Liam Neeson, Katherine Heigl and Brendan Fraser lend their famous voices and bring life to lovable characters Surly, Andie, Grayson, and Racoon.

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Surly, a mischievous squirrel and his sidekick Buddy have recently been banished from their city park dwelling by the animals in the community. A freak explosion during another one of Surly’s nut stealing schemes has left the whole park without food for the coming winter, and they’re had it with his antics. Now ha and Buddy find themselves on the outskirts of the park in the unfamiliar and unforgiving streets of the city forced to fend for themselves-all while the impending winter rapidly approaches.

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After a close call with a gang of sewer rats Surly and Buddy stumble upon Maury’s Nut Store, a place that could have them eating like kings have eating like kings if they can only get past a group of small time crooks who own the place and brutish guard dog named Precious.

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Keeping in mind his former friends are also scavenging for food Surly devises an elaborate, highly coordinated effort to break into the store, liberate the rations and get back in the good graces of his former neighborhood.

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But after ruining the town’s original savings, can Surly be trusted? Will Surly’s plan succeed, or will it keep him relegated to the depths of the concrete jungle forever?

Showing nationwide starting  January 22 nationwide. Released and distributed nationwide by Captive Cinema. In 2D and 3D formats.

Meet Khumba the half-striped zebra

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A misfit zebra takes the blame for a drought, and embarks on an incredible journey to regain his dignity in this computer-animated adventure for the entire family. Born into a superstitious herd with only half of his stripes, spirited Khumba (voice of Jake T. Austin) is viewed with suspicion when the rain stops falling.

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But legend has it that the first zebras got their stripes by drinking from a mythical watering hole deep in the Karoo desert, and Khumba is determined to find it so he will be accepted back into the throng. With the help of a witty wildebeest and a colorful ostrich, he just might find it, too.

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Before he does, however, Khumba will have to prove his bravery by standing up to a fearsome leopard that could easily have him for lunch. AnnaSophia Robb, Steve Buscemi, Liam Neeson, Catherine Tate, Richard E. Grant, and Laurence Fishburne also lend their voices to this uplifting tale of acceptance and perseverance.

“KHUMBA” is released and distributed by Captive Cinema.

SHOWING ON FEBRUARY 12. NATIONWIDE!

The Midas touch of Aneurin Barnard as ‘Mariah Mundi’

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The Welsh heartthrob Aneurin Barnard is Mariah Mundi in “The Adventurer: The Curse of the Midas Box” , the lead character in the first film adaptation of GP Taylor's teen adventure trilogy, which would be his most high-profile role to date.

"I am playing the title role of Mariah Mundi, so I have to really drive through the movie. It's going to be fun, it's got a great cast," he said.

Barnard expounds on what attracted him to the role: “I read the script before I read the book and what captured my imagination was that it was a good, old-fashioned, action and adventure story. It took me straight back to my younger days, crowing up with action-adventure movies like INDIANA JONES or even the BOND films.

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The one thing those films had that so few have today is they had a real story behind them. They weren’t just about people getting blown up or magic things happening. With MARIAH MUNDI, there’s an actual journey here; real people in heightened circumstances.”

For Barnard, Mariah was immediately appealing for his arc. “He’s a boy becoming a man in this era,” the 25-year-old Welshman explains. “He’s young, intelligent and a little bit naïve, but he’s also full of confidence and drive. He’s forced into a position where he has to put his life on the line to find his family, and as a result of that he has to become very brave. You’ve seen this teenage boy become a man.”

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“We initially conceived the character to be much younger than he is in the film,” explains director Jonathan Newman. “He was going to be around 13 or 14, as he was written in the book. But we also wanted to remain open to the possibility of someone older, and Aneurin was recommended to us.”

Director Jonathan Newman went to see a film Barnard had done called HUNKY DORY. “I was immediately impressed not just by his acting ability but also by his on-screen charisma,” he says. “He’s mesmerizing to watch when he’s on screen and I knew then and there that I wanted him to be our Mariah.”

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“These films stand or fall on the strength of their lead character,” insists Michael Sheen, Barnard’s fellow countryman, who plays the swashbuckling hero Will Charity. “And Aneurin is terrific. He looks wonderful as the character, and he’s got that strange gothic look about him. He’s a good-looking lad, but he’s also got a kind of oddness to him. And he’s got that great Welsh work ethic.”

“The Adventurer: The Curse of the Midas Box” is released and distributed by Captive Cinema.SHOWING NATIONWIDE JANUARY 29.

Sunday, January 19, 2014

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY: THE MARKED ONES, a super horror film

The story begins in June 2012 in Oxnard, California. Recent high school graduate Jesse has a party which includes his family and friends to celebrate his graduation. One morning, Jesse finds a mysterious bite on his arm. Later, he and his friend Hector are confronted by two thugs who attack them, but the thugs are somehow knocked out by Jesse. When they show the incident to their other friend Marisol, Jesse cannot remember how it happened. After some strange activity, he realizes that he has superhuman abilities before he tests and plays with them.

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Anna, the strange old witch-like neighbor of Jesse, is killed, and the police suspect that Oscar, a former classmate of Jesse, is the prime suspect. Jesse and his friend decide to find out what Anna's apartment looks like. They find black magic rituals and a picture of Jesse. They also discover several VHS tapes - including tapes of Katie & Kristi (from the third film). The next day, Jesse and Hector meet Penelope. Penelope finds a trap door in the apartment leading to a basement and is grabbed by an arm before she breaks free and runs away, while Oscar emerges from it and hides himself in the bedroom. Jesse arrives back and chases Oscar upon seeing him, who reveals that he did kill Anna because his arm had been bitten by her. Oscar then commits suicide by jumping from a building onto the top of a car.

Jesse is becoming even more dark and his homicidal actions become uncontrollable. More horrifying events take place one after another as Jesse is slowly being possessed by something or someone, that time seems to melt and characters from past episodes come alive once more. Watch how this installment of paranormal activity unfolds and horrifyingly ends.

The cast of Paranormal Activity: Marked Ones include Andrew Jacobs as Jesse, Richard Cabral as Arturo, Carlos Pratts as Oscar Hernandez, Gabrielle Walsh as Marisol, Jorge Diaz as Hector, Catherine Toribio as Penelope, Noemi Gonzalez as Evette, Gigi Feshold as Natalie, David Saucedo as Cesar Arista, Julian Works as Pablo, Molly Ephraim as Ali Rey , Katie Featherston as Adult Katie, Chloe Csengery as Young Katie, Jessica Tyler Brown as Young Kristi, and Micah Sloat as Micah.

“Paranormal Activity: Marked Ones” is directed by Christopher Landon and is distributed by United International Pictures through Solar Entertainment Corporation. Showing on January 29, 2014 at your favorite theaters.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Heartbroken? Tama na yan. #AyosMagMoveOn!

Di na ako naniniwala sa pagibig

If love is like riding a bicycle, then the first few tries must’ve hurt quite a bit. Just like Ramon Bautista of hit web-series Tales from the Friend Zone Zero, maybe you have gone through your share of heartbreaks that made you say “’di na ako naniniwala sa pag-ibig.”

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(Welling up with feelings but missed the melo-dramatic launch of #TFTFZero? You can watch the complete series here: http://www.bit.ly/TFTFZero WARNING: masyadong maraming feelings sa TFTFZero)

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But don’t lose hope, there’s more to life when you move on. Tama na ang semplang, magmove-on ka na lang. #AyosMagMoveOn

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Take it from broken hearted Spanky Rigor-Mortiz (Ramon Bautista) who sold a pre-loved tandem bike on AyosDito.ph to move on from the kilig moments he shared with Zooey de Leon (Nikki Veron Cruz), the girl who broke his heart; now you can Post Share Move On from the pain too!

INFOGRAPHIC ON JOINING

Every time you do, you get the chance to win Instax Mini cameras, to create better memories with; limited edition #TFTFZero shirts and exclusive advice from Ramon Bautista, so you won’t be friend zoned next time you try it again with love.

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To join,

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1. Post an ad selling an item that reminds you of a feeling, person, or moment in life that you want to move on from: a gift from your ex (para sa mga heartbroken), your old K-Pop collection (kasi professional ka na), a friendship bracelet (more than friends na kayo), and more.

For any type of moving on in life, you can let go of the pre-loved on AyosDito.ph! (For more examples, go here: http://bit.ly/MoveOnSamples)

Post Share Move On

2. Share your ad on Facebook and Twitter. Use #AyosMagMoveOn when you do. The more you share your ad, and the more your friends click on your ad, the more chances of winning.

WIN INSTAX MINI

3. Win Instax Mini cameras, #TFTFZero shirts and a Ramon Bautista love tip every week from January 9 to February 7, 2013. Five winners will be announced every week!

WIN TANDEM BIKE

And what’s more, at the end of the promo, the most viewed ad will win the featured Tandem Bike from the web-series, Tales from the Friend Zone!

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Ayos ‘di ba?

For more info, visit http://blog.ayosdito.ph

EX-WIFE BLOGS ABOUT HUBBY IN THE ROMANTIC COMEDY “THE RIGHT KIND OF WRONG”

Meet Leo Palamino, a guy whose ex-wife, Julie, created a blog which became a huge internet entitled “Why You Suck” and who meets the girl of his dreams on the day she is going to be married. Right? Wrong? In the romantic comedy, “The Right Kind of Wrong,” the ultimate underdog story begins as Leo, a fearless dreamer, risks all to show the girl of his dreams, Colette and the whole wide world all that is right with a man famous for being wrong.

Leo Palamino (Ryan Kwanten) has dedicated his life to what some may call impossible dreams. At least his ex-wife Julie (Kristen Hager) would call them that. But Leo is an expert at not listening to her criticism or anyone else’s for that matter because Leo is a stubborn romantic. An idealist. A dreamer. And to dream big, impossible dreams you can’t listen to the people who tell you that’s what those dreams are.

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It is precisely this refusal to listen to criticism that drove his ex-wife Julie to blog about Leo’s flaws as their relationship broke down. A blog … called Why You Suck that would become a cultural phenomenon. And so when we meet Leo Palamino, he is a romantic dreamer, a dedicated writer, a dishwasher in a tourist trap, and a celebrity…a man famous for his flaws.

Infused in the story is a realism about love; Colette (Sara Canning) is not Leo’s first love – Julie was, except she did not appreciate his artistic aspirations. She was a pragmatist in the purest sense. Things did not go well and the marriage ended - or at least, Leo thought it was over. Julie wasn’t nearly finished with him.

While most estranged spouses exact their revenge in the courts of law, Julie opted for the court of public opinion. People blog for many reasons: creativity, community, wealth, fame, even identity. Julie was motivated by spite and her own heartbreak about their failing relationship. As much as Leo’s artistic integrity made him the immovable object that logic and reason could not budge, Julie became the irresistible force, the unstoppable mouth. She found her voice in his flaws.

“The blog became an outlet for Julie to just write about her feelings and her frustrations with her husband,” explained Kristen Hager who plays the ex-wife. “She starts sharing the blog with her friends, initially as a joke. At first, Why You Suck is just a funny title that Julie uses to get a reaction from Leo. He’d been indifferent for so long that she wants to hurt him, thinking this will motivate him to pay attention and make an effort to fix what's wrong with the relationship.” It doesn’t work.

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One of Julie’s main complaints that she trumpets in the blog is that when Leo gets a potential book deal from a big publisher, he rejects their edits, and the deal dies – something else Julie trumpets in the blog. “Leo writes with a single goal, a single purpose,” Kwanten noted. “He did things his way because if it wasn't his work, he’d disown it.

To survive, he is a dishwasher in Mount Yalo, an upscale resort town. “He takes dishwashing seriously. He’s a zen dishwasher - when he washes dishes, he’s fully in the moment. People come from other restaurants to watch him wash dishes because he turns it into a performance like Tom Cruise did in Cocktail. He has no embarrassment of any kind,” observed Lantos.

Kristen Hager is originally from Red Lake, Ontario, Canada and has made quite a name for herself in American and Canadian film and television. Hager first garnered attention with a starring role on the popular Lifetime summer miniseries “Beach Girls” opposite Rob Lowe and Julia Ormond. Following the success of “Beach Girls,” Hager landed recurring roles on the CBS series “CSI: Miami” and the CW series “Runaway” before landing supporting roles in the Universal Studios feature Wanted opposite Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy, and then in Todd Haynes’ Bob Dylan biopic “I’m Not There” alongside Cate Blanchett and Richard Gere. Hager’s starring role as the title character in the Charles Manson themed thriller “Leslie, My Name is Evil” received rave reviews after premiering at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. She also starred in the Strause Brothers’ Fox feature film “Alien VS. Predator:Requiem.” Additionally, Hager starred in the MTV produced Web Series “Valemont” with Nikki Blonsky and Eric Balfour and is currently a series regular on SyFy’s “Being Human.”

The perfect date movie “The Right Kind of Wrong” will open in Philippine cinemas on February 6, simultaneous with its U.S. opening – from Axinite Digicinema, Inc.

FANTASTICALLY REAL IN “THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY”

Ben Stiller directs and stars in THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY(opening January 22 in Phils.), James Thurber's classic story of a day-dreamer who escapes his anonymous life by disappearing into a world of fantasies filled with heroism, romance and action. When his job along with that of his co-worker (Kristen Wiig) are threatened, Walter takes action in the real world embarking on a global journey that turns into an adventure more extraordinary than anything he could have ever imagined.

In 1939, when James Thurber first published “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” he brought a playful, modernist style to the story that lured readers directly into the experience of Walter Mitty’s fantasy life. In Ben Stiller’s latest adaptation, he hoped to do something similar, using modern cinema to open the story up visually in a way that couldn’t have been imagined in Thurber’s day. He knew there were several ways to approach Mitty’s fantasizing. But there was only way he felt that was right for what he wanted audiences to feel: using a deftly crafted hyper-reality that merges Mitty’s inner stream of consciousness into the fabric of what’s going on in his outer world.

Check out the movie’s latest featurette with Ben Stiller and Kristen Wiig talking how the movie is about courage and going into the unknown…

 

“Everybody can connect with the idea of talking to somebody while actually having this crazy, imaginary fantasy going on in your head of where you’d rather be in that moment,” he explains. “That’s what we wanted to capture.”

Stiller thought intensively about how to achieve that. Creating Walter’s fantasies would certainly involve many moving parts, and a sense of spectacle, but Stiller used his effects judiciously, with an eye towards unbroken integration into the flow of the action. “In terms of visual effects, we wanted the overall approach to be very photo-real,” he says. “I’ve always found that the best results come from doing as much as you can practically in real-life situations and then just tickling that with the digital effects.”

Ultimately, Stiller would put together a visual design team including Oscar-nominated director of photography Stuart Dryburgh(“The Piano”), production designer Jeff Mann (“Tropic Thunder,” “Zoolander”), editor Greg Hayden (“Tropic Thunder,” “Zoolander”), costume designer Sarah Edwards (“Salt,” “Michael Clayton”) and visual effects supervisor Guillaume Rocheron (“Life of Pi”).

The constant yin and yang of dreams and reality in “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” made for an extremely ambitious production – one which would take on the rigors of shooting in the middle of New York City then jet off to the other-worldly environs of Iceland, where cast and crew moved from volcanoes to helicopters to the middle of the frosty ocean.

Each location would host scenes that could not have been filmed elsewhere in the world. In New York, Stiller had the chance to shoot the epic chase between Walter and Ted in the live-wire dynamics of a typical crowded day in the city.

In Iceland, Stiller would shoot a scene that pushed him to new edges both as director and actor: when Walter jumps into the raging waves of the North Atlantic, which Stiller simulated with his own plunge into the ocean. “It was really important for me that we not do that scene in a tank,” he recalls. “I felt we had to shoot in real high seas, with a real boat there, a real helicopter and real waves,” he explains.

“That’s when Mitty literally dives into life,” muses John Goldwyn. “It’s the big transition moment of the movie, and it looks incredibly real, because most of it is.” The scene turned out, just as it does for Walter Mitty, to bring a bit more reality than even Stiller anticipated.

“We were about a mile out at sea with seven-foot swells -- which, when you’re in the water, are really big,” admits Stiller. “The boat with the camera in it went away to come back and do the shot, but there was this two-minute period where I was just in the North Sea with nobody around. I was in the ocean just by myself with a briefcase, floating there waiting for the camera to come back and was thinking, ‘I hope they can find me when they come back for the shot,’” he laughs. “There was a real sense of danger and it was one of those moments when I thought, ‘oh, this is what real filmmaking is all about.’”

Step out and live your dream. “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” opens January 22 in cinemas nationwide from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.

JACKIE CHAN FACES LIU YE’S WRATH IN “POLICE STORY 2013”

Jackie Chan returns to the big screen in the non-stop action film “Police Story 2013” with Liu Ye, Jing Tian, Guli Nazha and Zhou Xiao Ou. Directed by Ding Sheng, “Police Story 2013” is Chan’s reteaming with Sheng the sixth installment of the "Police Story" series. Their last venture together was the 2010 action film, "Little Big Soldier". The film's theme song, "Rescue," features Chan on vocals, while famous Chinese musician Sun Nan took charge of its arrangement and harmonization.

In "Police Story 2013," a small pub turns into the scene of a tense stand-off when the owner takes his patrons hostage -- one of the hostages is Officer Zhong Wen (Jackie Chan), another is his daughter, Miaomiao (Jing Tian). The hostage taker (Liu Ye) demands that a notorious criminal be freed from prison in exchange for the lives of those in the pub.

 

The audience is the only reason why I continue to make films,” said action superstar Jackie Chan at the Police Story 2013 Press conference in Kuala Lumpur recently. It can be remembered that Chan announced that “CZ12 (Chinese Zodiac 12)” would be his last action film. But the decision was faced with so much disapproval from Chan’s fans who like him to continue making films. “I love every process involved in making an action film. The itch to be on the set again is the reason why I have agreed to make Police Story 2013. I’ve decided to continue to make action films but it will not be as big as it used to,” he said.

“Detective Zhong Wen (the lead character) is very similar to me. Both of us are busy with our own agendas and our careers take priority over anything else. “In my personal life, I often put family aside and spend a lot of time on the film set. But again, that was many years ago,” said Chan in recent interviews of his character in the movie.

In the movie, Chan faces and deals with Wu Jiang (played by Liu Ye) who had been planning revenge for the death of his beloved sister, Xiaowei (played by Guli Nazha). Wu is a bar owner. After his parents’ divorce, he grew up in a foreign country. His appearance is gentle, but he has a forceful personality built by his varied life experience. After his father’s death, he had to survive on his own by being an underground boxer. In these games where lives are at stake, he learns about life. After retiring from boxing he returns to China and locates his long-lost younger sister Xiaowei. He lavishes his love on her, and sees her as his hope and his emotional crutch. Xiaowei’s untimely death hit him extremely hard. For the next five years, he secretly plots and plans every detail of this kidnapping in order to understand what exactly had happened. At the risk of losing his business and his life, his intention is to exact revenge on the responsible party.

Policeman Zhong Wen has always been dedicated to his work, to the point of neglecting his own family. One day, his daughter Miao Miao, who has moved out on her own, asks to meet with him. He rushes to the meeting place, excited but worried. To his surprise, the meeting venue is a very fashion-forward bar. But in the back of his mind, Zhong Wen feels that something is wrong about this place. When Zhong Wen finds out that the owner of the bar is his daughter’s boyfriend, he is upset and confused. As the conversations become unbearably awkward, a series of accidents occurs inside the bar. Meanwhile, bar owner Wu Jiang takes Chong down in several amazingly skilled moves. The police, who have received a call, rush to the site. The patrons think the excitement is over but inside the bar Wu’s men Ben, Pichon and Taozi the bouncer suddenly shut the main doors and takes everyone hostage at gunpoint. Meanwhile, Zhong, though trapped, is sharp enough to sense the intention to attack by the police outside. He talks to Wu, hoping to catch the latter’s motive for the crime. At the same time, Zhong begins strategic negotiations, all the while luring Wu into position for the sniper outside. But just as the sniper is about to shoot, it dawns on Zhong that all this is related to a cold case five years ago. And that case has also left an indelible mark in Zhong Wen’s psyche.

Watch Jackie Chan back in action when “Police Story 2013” opens January 22 in cinemas nationwide from Megavision, Inc.

MOVIE ON COMING OUT IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED BY THE MTRCB: “GEOGRAPHY CLUB”

“Geography Club” comes in at a most opportune time when the world now has learned to embrace that being different is no taboo after all. Based on Brent Hartinger’s acclaimed, best-selling young adult novel, “Geography Club” is a fast, fresh coming-of-age movie that tells a real and powerful story unfolding in every high school around the country – a story of kids hiding their true identities in plain sight, even as they feverishly pursue their hearts’ desires.

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The MTRCB, local (Phils.’) censors board gave it a PG rating (viewers below 13 years of age must be accompanied by a parent or supervising adult) and highly commends the movie as “Sweet and sensitive coming out, coming of age movie based on the first novel of the young adult series/play of the same name. Nuanced direction and performances make this a must-see and highly recommended.”

The movie introduces us to a group of high school students who could go from popular to respectable or respectable to popular but couldn’t go anywhere from outcast. This is what Goodkind High’s Geography Club is for. This secret society – with a name so nerdy it keeps the curious away – is actually a covert classroom refuge where a group of outcasts are about to navigate the clique-mined social terrain of the American high-school . . . and the not-so-straight-forward map to fitting in, coming out, first loves and last hopes for making it through a teen world that is trickier to maneuver than ever.

Russell Middlebrook (played by Cameron Deane Stewart) has since been looking for something but couldn’t just quite figure it out. Russell is the everyman. With his boyish good looks, and affable personality, Russell has an easy time staying under the radar while he struggles to find his sexual identity, and the chucky Gunnar (Andrew Caldwell), his best friend faces the historic teenage challenge of finding a girlfriend and losing his V card.

When Russell gets involved with another closeted student, his life begins to take a new direction. This hormonally charged search to find himself is the driving force behind a supposedly official after-school club unlike any other. The sign on the door might say Geography Club, but its members are actually exploring the perilous, and sometimes hilarious, landscape where sexual identity, sexual attraction, peer pressure, parent problems and the awkwardness of Health Class all converge in a head-spinning maze.

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They start out trying to protect their one big secret among themselves. Russell is dating Trish (Meaghan Martin), a sweet but sexually motivated young lady – even as he is falling for the football jock Kevin (Justin Deeley), who won’t ever reveal the truth to his macho teammates Nolan (Grant Harvey) and Jared (Dexter Darden). Min (Ally Maki) and Terese (Nikki Blonsky) tell everyone they’re really just best friends. And then there’s Ike (Alex Newell) who is trying on every identity in the book. They know they are different, but at least they’re not in daily danger like the bullied geek Brian Bund (Teo Olivares). Yet, when Russell’s sexual orientation is suddenly exposed to the whole school by the ultra-popular Kimberly (Allie Gonino), the members of the Geography Club begin to panic. Together Russell and the members of the Geography Club must make the toughest decision of their lives . . . help Russell cover up his recent scandal or stand together as one and open up the Geography Club to any student who is proud to be different?

Entertainment Tonight hails “Geography Club” saying that - “Every year sees the release of one film so culturally important it should be required viewing. This year, that film is Geography Club.”

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“Geography Club” opens on February 5 in cinemas from CrystalSky Multimedia. Follow and like the movie’s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/geographyclubph to view the trailers.

"HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2"

             At the tail of the success of the first movie, Toothless and Hiccup are back for bigger adventures, laughs and battles as additional voice cast were revealed in this year’s Comic-Con event. From the phenomenal series “Game of Thrones,” Kit Harrington voices an amusing dragon-trapper named Eret whom he describes as very cocky and brazen; Cate Blanchett who’s known for her role in “The Lord of the Rings” franchise also joins the cast as Valka, a savior of dragons while Djimon Hounsou (“Blood Diamond”) is cast as the voice of Drago Bludvist who chases dragons for personal vendetta.

Directed by Dean Deblois, “How To Train Your Dragon 2” soars five years after best friends Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel) and Toothless united dragons and Vikings on the island of Berk.

Landing June 11, 2014 in theaters nationwide, “How To Train Your Dragon 2” is a DreamWorks Animation and 20th Century Fox presentation to be distributed by Warner Bros. (Phils.).

Will Arnett and Katherine Heigl lend voices to animated ‘The Nut Job’

In animated 3D, THE NUT JOB is an action-packed comedy in fictional Oakton that follows the travails of Surly (voiced by Will Arnett), a mischievous squirrel, and his rat friend Buddy, who plan a nut store heist of outrageous proportions and unwittingly find themselves embroiled in a much more complicated and hilarious adventure.


Will Arnett and Katherine Heigl discuss what's it like voicing characters, work/life balance, and who they would choose if they were hatching a plan like in The Nut Job.

HAVE YOU DONE THE VOICES FOR YOUR KIDS?

Will Arnett: Yes, sort of. I mean, they've heard me talk. They especially know the word "no." I say that a lot. I should say it like Surly though. They're really excited for it though. When they see any of the commercials on TV they're like, "THE NUT JOB!!!!"Or we drive by the bus signs and they're up against the [car] glass.

KATHERINE, THIS IS YOUR FIRST ANIMATED MOVIE. WHAT DREW YOU TO THE ROLE?

Katherine Heigl: I just really wanted to be a part of something that I could share with my kids. And we're BIG animated movie watchers. I think we pretty much queue something up every night to watch with the kids. I thought it would be fun if I was actually in [the movie].

IS THERE ONE OF THE CHARACTERS THAT YOU REALLY CAN RELATE TO IN THE NUT JOB?

Katherine Heigl : I like "Precious" the dog. (laughter)
Will Arnett: Yeah, "Precious" is kinda funny, and kind of sweet. Very precious.

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WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT WORK/LIFE BALANCE? IS THERE SUCH A THING WHEN YOU'RE A PARENT WHO WORKS? IS IT EVEN HARDER WHEN YOU'RE A WORKING PARENT IN THE SPOTLIGHT? WAS THE WORK SCHEDULE SOMETHING THAT MADE YOUR PARENTING SCHEDULE EASIER?

Will Arnett: I think anybody who is a parent knows that it is a balance and you're always trying to figure out a way to... I try to reverse engineer it. To look at what my family demands are and what my kids need and try to work backwards from there and retrofit everything into it. I feel very blessed to work on something like this, where it doesn't take [me] away from the kids. Anything that takes me away from my kids I dislike.
Katherine Heigl: We moved to Utah. We've been home for the last two years and I finally got a job that took me three weeks in Cleveland. And it was very strange because I've never not brought my family with me. But this was a small movie and they didn't have a budget for that. And it was just three weeks and I thought, "I can do three weeks away. It's okay. I can handle it." And I almost find Facetiming harder. It makes you long to just touch them. And you can't 'cause you can see them... and I get this weird thing about the baby. I just want to hold the baby! So it was a little difficult. The first week was actually kind of okay. (laughter)
Will Arnett: One of my legitimate concerns is - when one of the kids comes and gets into bed with you during the night I always think, "I'm gonna have a black eye and I have to go to work and be on camera and they're going to be like, "hey man - you have a black eye and you gotta work today. What are you doing?"" (laughter)

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WHAT TAGLINE DOES YOUR CHARACTER SAYS IN THE FILM THAT WE CAN EXPECT OUR CHILDREN TO REPEAT OVER AND OVER, AND OVER.

Katherine H: I don't think Andy had any of those tag liney lines except for "no, Surly, no!"
Will Arnett: I think Surly kind of said sort of like, "we do it, but we do it my way." I could see my kids throwing that back in my face, "yeah, I'm gonna to do it... but I'm gonna to do it MY way." (laughter)

WILL ARNETT, DO YOU PREFER VOICED ANIMATION FILM OVER LIVE ACTING?

Will Arnett: I think that most people would say that they prefer not to have to see my face. (laughter) No, it's true guys. Quiet, it's true. I'm an idiot I get it. (laughter) But, they're different. They each have their pros and cons, of course, and doing something like this is fun because you can kind of create the world. You  can kind of do anything. You can go off and be crazy and um, it's just a different experience. It's a different discipline.

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DO YOU SHOW UP IN YOUR PAJAMAS WHEN YOU DO VOICE WORK?

Will Arnett: You mean, because you can?
Katherine Heigl: I wish I had! I got all dressed up.

KATHERINE, DID YOU GET DRESSED UP TO GO INTO THE STUDIO?

KH: I did! I mean, I don't know why. I guess I thought it was the 50's. I wanted to be like (flips hair) one of those actresses that goes into the studio.
Will Arnett: Would you get dressed up to go do it?
Katherine Heigl: I did! I don't know why. (laughter)
Will Arnett: It's nice.
Katherine Heigl: Then I would finally take my shoes off and they would have to adjust the mic six inches. They would ask, "why are you wearing heels?" I don't know why. I'm strange.

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HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR THE VOICEOVER ROLE, VERSUS A MOVIE OR TV SHOW?

Katherine Heigl: I have no idea. That was the problem, really. I'm like, "I don't know what I'm doing here"

WAS IT SCARY THE FIRST TIME FOR YOU?

Katherine Heigl: It was a little intimidating and I was very self-conscious which is the absolute the worst thing that you can be as an actor. Like you cannot be self-conscious. But it was really awkward and strange and then you start getting into it and you're alone, in this room, with a microphone and they're behind there (points finger) a glass window watching you and you're jumping around and doing all this weird stuff and now I watch the b-roll and it's just humiliating. It's humiliating! I hope no one ever sees that. (laughter)
Will Arnett: Yeah, it's a weird process. (laughter) I'm saying, you have to do what they call exertion which is like falling or whatever. Like, "okay," they're on the other side of the booth and they're like, "okay, now you're getting hit in the face by a 2x4 and then you fall three stories and... go!" You're like, "what, oh. How would I sound like if.... oomph, aaaaah!" (laughter)
Katherine Heigl: I was really just like not in my element.  I had to really work at it.

IN THE MOVIE, SURLY CALLS ON HIS PAL BUDDY TO HELP HATCH HIS PLAN. WHO WOULD YOU CALL IF YOU NEEDED HELP HATCHING A PLAN. WHO IS YOUR GO-TO BUDDY?

Katherine H: Someone who could really McGyve the situation. Some McGyver-type of guy.

Will Arnett: Did you say McGyve?

Katherine Heigl: McGyve. I'm gonna McGyve this.

Will Arnett: I like that expression.

Katherine Heigl: My husband says it all the time.

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Will Arnett : Really? That's great. McGyve the situation. McGyve this sitch. (laughter) I don't have time to finish any words. (laughter)  I would say, I wish I could get Navy Seals. They would be great to have. Wouldn't that be handy to have a Navy Seal? I would be like, "Do me a favor? Snap that guys neck real quick." And then be like, "where do you want to go for lunch?" I have a friend, Jeremy, who is a good buddy of mine that I grew up with in Canada and he still lives there. And many years he's a Huntington fishing guy and I used to always say, if the apocalypse is happening, you want Jeremy with you because he's like, "okay, go!" He's like a big dude and kill a bear in the woods. I mean, I'm not advocating. But if you had to. I'm not advocating killing bears.

Katherine Heigl: I know this is going to sound really cheesy, but I would call my husband. He can just figure things out. I don't know why. It blows my mind because if you look at him, you wouldn't think so. He's very clever.

DID HAVING KIDS IMPACT YOUR DECISION TO TAKE THIS ROLE AND HOW YOU PLAY YOUR CHARACTER?

Will Arnett: Yeah, it did for me. I mean, to go off what Katherine said, for me, I also watch a lot of these animated films and family programming and i'm a huge fan of a lot of it. there's a lot of good stuff out there. it's important at this stage in my life to do things that they can watch and that's much more important. I mean, I had no reason to do it before I had kids and now, it's kind of what I want to do.

Katherine Heigl: Yeah, to go off of what I said earlier. I just wanted to do something that I could show my kids and watch together. We watch movies together every night. Hopefully we won't have to watch this one over and over again because that sort of psychologically plays on me.

WHAT KIND OF FREEDOM DOES VOICING A CHARACTER GIVE YOU AS OPPOSED TO A LIVE ACTION MOVIE?

Katherine Heigl: I don't know. I mean, you're kind of on your own when you're doing it whereas in live action you're working with someone else and what they do. This is so isolated in a way and you think about what may be happening. It's just described in a script.
Will Arnett: It is freeing in some ways that you can hide behind the microphone. But also, what makes it a little harder in certain ways is you have to convey a lot through just your voice. You have to convey a lot of emotion and so, it's just a different discipline. A different muscle that you have to work.

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THE NUT JOB – opens in theaters nationwide on January 22!

Released and Distributed by CAPTIVE CINEMA

Liam Neeson Tapped to Voice a Villainous ‘Raccoon’ in “The Nut Job”

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The ‘Taken’ star has joined other voice cast members in the animated comedy based on Peter Lepeniotis’ 2005 short animation ’Surly Squirrel’.

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After lending his voice for wise lion Aslan in “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader”, Liam Neeson joins the voice cast of an animation ‘The Nut Job’ .

The film taps Katherine Heigl, Will Arnett and Brendan Fraser. Neeson voicing a villainous Raccoon, the self-proclaimed leader of all Liberty Park. His ruling over the community appears to be noble, however, underneath the façade is a self-serving ulterior motive.

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A master of manipulation with a lust for control and fortune, he will do just about anything to satiate his incredible appetite for greed. Despite his delusion of grandeur, he is unable to do much on his own and enlists the help of the unshakeable Cardinal. Raccoon has also had it with Surly’s (voiced by Will Arnett) unwillingness to comply with the park rules and will find any opportunity to get rid of this arrogant rodent. However, Raccoon has been investing a little too much time with the exile of Surly when his biggest feat might just be his next in command, Andie (voiced by Katherine Heigl).

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“Having the distinguished Liam Heeson lend his talents as the raccoon villain is the perfect finishing touch,” said director Lepeniotis. “His contribution fulfils that dramatic need in our comedy adventure. It’s honor working with him.”

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The Nut Job is an action-packed comedy that follows Surly, a mischievous squirrel, who must plan a heist to get into his town’s biggest nut shop in order to help his pals in the park gather food to survive the winter.

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Together with his sidekick, Buddy, he will assemble a ragtag crew to help him get inside – and take them on a fun-filled adventure that they’ll never forget.

‘The Nut Job’ is released and distributed by Captive Cinema.

Showing January 22, 2014!

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Kiera Knightley go spying in Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

When the opportunity to work with director Kenneth Branagh on Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit came along, Keira Knightley jumped at it. The actress had wanted to work with Branagh for years - indeed, she points out that one of his earlier films, Much Ado About Nothing, inspired her to take up acting in the first place.

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But there was another reason why Jack Ryan appealed, too. Quite simply, she wanted to have some fun after years of playing a series of heavy duty roles in films like Anna Karenina, A Dangerous Method and Never Let Me Go.

“For a couple of years now I’ve wanted to do either something that is complete popcorn or something that is incredibly positive because I got to the end of about five or six years work having died in pretty much everything,” she laughs.

“Everything was doom and gloom and I just wanted to lighten it up a bit so this was part of it. This is my popcorn, very Hollywood thriller that I wanted to do for fun, that sort of thing.

“And it ticked all of those boxes and it’s the first time I’ve been anywhere near anything with a larger budget since the last Pirates of the Caribbean film, which was about seven or eight years ago, so it was dipping my toe back in that water.

“But the main reason was really Ken because I was really interested to see what it was like being directed by an actor when he was acting in the scenes as well. I was fascinated to watch his process. So the main thing was Ken for me.”

As well as directing, Branagh also stars in Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, as Russian oligarch, Viktor Cherevin, who plots to cause havoc on the world’s stock markets. Jack Ryan (Chris Pine) is a newly recruited CIA analyst who discovers Cherevin’s plan to wreck the US economy and Ms. Knightley plays Cathy, his fiancée.

Ms. Knightley revealed that her links to Branagh the filmmaker go back a long way. She first auditioned for him when she was a young girl, just making her way as an actress, and always remembered the kindness he showed her back then.

“I met him once when I was about 11 years old and I went up for Hamlet and I remember him being absolutely lovely to me. I remember knowing that I hadn’t got the job,” she says.

“It was for one of the Players in his film version of Hamlet and I knew I hadn’t got the job pretty much from the get go but he still took the time to show me models of all the sets and he was absolutely lovely to me and he sat there and talked about what he was going to do.

“And I remember appreciating the fact that he had taken the time out, even though it was pretty clear I wasn’t going to get the job, to sit there with an 11 year old and have a talk with her and treat her like a human being.

“I’ve been a huge fan of his because one of the films I got obsessed by when I was growing up was Much Ado About Nothing. It’s a great version and I used to know it off by heart – I wish I still did because that might be quite helpful one day but I don’t.

“I watched it until my video copy of it broke – I watched it that often. I completely fell in love with it and for me that film was such a huge part of me wanting to become an actress. He was always somebody I had wanted to work with because how can you not when he has created a film that you love so much.”

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On set, Branagh switched effortlessly between his dual roles behind and in front of the camera, she says.

“It’s absolutely fascinating but really strange particularly when you are doing a scene with him because he will be going from Russian baddie kind of psychopath and then he’ll suddenly switch off and be like ‘oh OK, ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much and that’s a cut..’ and being this really polite, quiet sort of contained director.

“And then on the other side he’s the actor, too. And a lot of times when you are working you need to create energy so there is quite a lot of banter that can happen between actors and so he’ll go in for that, too.

“So there will be the actor banter just before a take and then he’ll go into playing the psychopath and then he will switch back to the director and you are watching it going, ‘wow!’ It takes a lot of energy to do that, it’s quite extraordinary.

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“And he has a guy who helps him, Jimmy, who keeps an eye on all the actors, including him, and he is someone that you can go and talk to, and he talks to, and so he has that extra pair of eyes. He is fascinating to work with.”

Ms Knightley has always loved well-scripted, intelligent thrillers and Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit has all the hallmarks of the genre and fits the bill perfectly, she says.

“I’ve always loved thrillers and I love the challenge of a thriller because they need a good storyteller to make them. And there are very few thrillers made nowadays unfortunately.

“If you look back to the 80s and 90s thrillers were all the rage and we really don’t make that many of them anymore so I was really excited to try that with Jack Ryan.

“And you need a director who is a really good storyteller to make them and so I was very excited to try it out and the fact that Ken was directing meant that I knew it was in very good hands.”

Branagh has won huge acclaim for directing and appearing in many of Shakespeare’s plays on both stage and screen. But, as Ms. Knightley points out, he also loves contemporary stories and has directed thrillers like Dead Again and blockbusters like Thor.

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“And this is a Hollywood thriller – there was no pretending that we were doing Shakespeare, we all knew exactly what we were doing and he was very clear about it,” she says.

“And there was no guilt or going, ‘this should be something different.’ It was like, ‘we are trying to make the best kind of Hollywood thriller that we can possibly make. That’s what we are trying to do so let’s do it…’ And I really like that.

“I like the lack of pretence and the clarity of that. I was hugely impressed by Ken. And what I love about him is the acts that his career has had. To be this guy that directed Thor and now Jack Ryan and Cinderella next, the same guy that did all the Shakespeare, a man who is generally regarded as one of the best stage actors of our time.

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“He has done a phenomenal amount and his career has had really interesting chapters and I think that’s always great for any actor to see – that there are all these different avenues that you can explore and there are different stages in your career.

Ms. Knightley also enjoyed working with Chris Pine who plays Jack Ryan. Her character, Cathy, doesn’t know that her fiancée has been recruited into the CIA – a corrosive secret in their relationship.

“I think from my character’s perspective the story is about what happens to your relationship when you are with somebody who is keeping a secret. Cathy doesn’t know what the secret Jack is keeping is but of course the audience will know that he is a CIA officer and he can’t tell anybody.

“Jack and Cathy aren’t married yet so he can’t tell her but she knows that something is going on and so her mind goes to all sorts of different places and it’s about the pressure that is put on that relationship by that secret.

“And I thought that was very interesting because it would put pressure on if you don’t even know what your partner is doing and also, if she does find out, she hasn’t chosen that life for herself and obviously it’s a dangerous life.

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“So she is with somebody who has brought a lot of baggage to their relationship and that can be very corrosive. And what that does to a person and a relationship I thought was very interesting. And in a broader sense, this film is an origins story and although it’s an original script, it’s drawn from the books as far as the history of Jack and Cathy goes.”

The daughter of actor Will Knightley and playwright Sharman Macdonald, Ms. Knightley was born in London and made her professional acting debut in 1993 in the British TV series, Screen One.

Keira Knightley earned Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for her portrayal of Elizabeth Bennet in Joe Wright’s version of Pride & Prejudice, based on Jane Austen’s novel, also for Focus Features and Working Title Films. Two years later, she was a Golden Globe and BAFTA Award nominee for her performance as Cecilia Tallis in Atonement, again directed by Joe Wright and for Focus and Working Title, based on the novel by Ian McEwan. In November 2012, she stars in the title role of Anna Karenina, reuniting with Mr. Wright and Focus, based on the novel by Leo Tolstoy and adapted by Academy Award winner Tom Stoppard.

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“Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit” is released and distributed by

United International Pictures through Solar Entertainment Corp.

SHOWING on JANUARY 15, 2014. NATIONWIDE