Manny: The Movie To Premiere at SXSW Film Festival in Texas

The South by Southwest Film Festival and Conference (SXSW) in Austin, Texas recently announced that it will host the premiere of the Hollywood-produced “MANNY: THE MOVIE.”

The festival which runs from March 7 to 15 will mark the global debut of the highly anticipated documentary movie of the celebrated Filipino sports icon.

Narrated by Academy Award nominee Liam Neeson, “MANNY” chronicles the untold story of Manny Pacquiao-- from his impoverished childhood years in war-torn Mindanao, his struggle to survive in Manila by working in construction sites and warehouses after running away from home at the age of 14-- to his dramatic rise as a ten-time boxing world champion.

The LEGO Movie Assembles More Than $200 Million in Global Box Office

BURBANK, CA – February 19, 2014 – Audiences are connecting with “The LEGO® Movie” in a big way, driving the first-ever full-length theatrical LEGO adventure past $200 million in worldwide box office, less than two weeks after its record-breaking release. The announcement was made today by Dan Fellman, President of Domestic Distribution, and Veronika Kwan Vandenberg, President of International Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures.

“The LEGO Movie,” from Warner Bros. Pictures, Village Roadshow Pictures and LEGO System A/S, made its North American debut on Friday, February 7. It took in an opening weekend gross of $69.1 million, making it the largest February opening for any animated film and the largest opening for an animated Warner Bros. release. It has since gone on to earn a total of $146.3 million at the domestic box office, and still building.

The film has also launched its international engagements in a number of European, Asian, and Latin American markets, including the UK, Spain, Scandinavia, Hong Kong, Korea, Brazil and Mexico, earning $60.4 million to date, for a combined worldwide box office total of $206.7 million, and climbing.

Liam Neeson, Will Ferrell Lead Voice Cast of "The LEGO Movie"

Joining Chris Pratt in the voice cast of the first-ever, full-length theatrical LEGO® adventure “The LEGO Movie” are Academy Award-honorees Liam Neeson and Morgan Freeman, comic leading man Will Ferrell and talented actress Elizabeth Banks.

The latter plays the female master builder Wyldstyle. Banks says, “I enjoyed being an action hero. Wyldstyle is trying to live up to her name. She has a nice rebellious streak in her, which is something I think most kids can relate to, and she’s pushing the envelope a bit to establish her own way in life and her own look. What I loved about the character is that she’s smart and strong. She has kick-butt powers and a lot of sass and she’s no damsel in distress. She’s there to save the day.”

While recording her dialogue, “I rarely wore shoes,” Banks reveals. “I was usually barefoot because I like to jump around and move. You can’t make noise over your vocals, so I have to take my shoes off, especially in an action movie. There’s a lot of punching and jumping and running, and I did all of that behind the microphone.”

Will Ferrell who plays Lord Business calls his character “a real control freak. Lord Business runs everything and doesn’t want any creative expression or anyone building anything that’s not on the instruction worksheet. He’s built the entire universe just the way he wants it, just perfect, and it drives him crazy that people come around and dare to change things.”

Lord Business is also remarkably tall for a LEGO minifigure, notes Ferrell. “In his public persona as President Business he has a more pleasant look, very corporate, three-piece-suit and a tie and not a hair out of place. However, when he reveals his true self, the maniacal Lord Business, he wears an impressive cape and 20-foot-tall boots—or, the 20-foot equivalent in LEGO terms—so he can look even more evil and terrifying.”

Lord Business’s number one enforcer is the alternately intimidating and wacky Bad Cop/Good Cop, a swivel-headed minifigure with a split personality, each of which is voiced by Liam Neeson.

“What’s so fresh about Bad Cop/Good Cop is that we literally see both sides of him,” says producer Dan Lin. “He’s Bad Cop whenever he’s executing Lord Business’s orders, and that’s the straight-ahead tough guy we’re used to seeing in the movies. Then he’s got the Good Cop side too, so he’s fighting with himself. One side of his face has the mirrored sunglasses and gritted teeth and is very stern, and the opposite side is much softer, with a smile, and Liam gives each of them their own identity.”

“When I saw some of the animation, and bearing in mind the history of New York police, I thought he should be Irish, and specifically from the North of Ireland,” says Neeson, who gave Bad Cop that particular accent, while bringing a distinctly different inflection to his better half. “The Good Cop, he’s Irish too, but he’s a wee bit more feisty.”

Neeson and Ferrell acted out some of their interactions and improvised together, via headphones, while Neeson was in a recording studio in New York and Ferrell was in Los Angeles. “Liam’s measured and mostly serious delivery as Bad Cop juxtaposed against Will’s outsized comedy take on Lord Business is hilarious,” says Lin.

In Morgan Freeman’s case, it’s his famously rich and authoritative voice that makes his characterization of the presumably wise wizard Vitruvius so laughable. Whether in his dramatic roles or noted documentary narrations, Freeman’s delivery unfailingly lends an air of truth and substance to whatever is being spoken. However, audiences will quickly grasp that not everything Vitruvius says can be trusted—or even makes much sense.

An ancient hippie sage clad in sandals and a tie-dyed shirt barely visible under his voluminous white beard, “Vitruvius talks a good game but he’s a little hazy on the details: like the prophecy and how, exactly, they’re going to stop Lord Business,” Miller concedes. “It’s almost as if he’s making it up as he goes along.”
Longtime fans of Freeman’s work will be surprised that this is the first time he has applied his resonant voice to an animated movie.

Opening across the Philippines on Thursday, Feb. 6, “The LEGO Movie” is distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

REVIEW The LEGO Movie

The LEGO Movie is by far the best looking commercial for the LEGO brand EVER and it also came in packaged with a movie which is very cool.

The film features the voices of Chris Pratt, Will Arnett, Morgan Freeman, Will Ferrell, Liam Neeson, Elizabeth Banks, Alison Bree and a whole lot more (including three cast members of the 21 Jump Street reboot film). It's the typical story of mistaken identity and finding the hero within you. Typical stuff that will be an eye opener for kids. If you'd be looking for a deep storyline, The LEGO movie ain't for you. That being said, it's still a pretty enjoyable movie both in 2D and 3D. 

Chris Pratt is Emmet, a basic construction minifigure who has suddenly become the prophesied "Master Builder" who will save the Lego world from the nefarious Lord Business/ President Business. He has to stop Business from using the 'Kragle' which will end everything good and wonderful about their worlds. Pretty generic movie plot.

GOOD 

- It's a quirky film, I'll give them that. You just can't pass on the chance to see a movie featuring all sorts of licensed characters coming together albeit in LEGO form. Gandalf, Batman, Shaquille O'Neal and even the Ninja Turtles make cameos somewhere in the movie.

- The humor is OK. The film has several chuckle inducing moments and a few "laugh out loud" ones but it'll take some getting used to pop culture references to get some of the stuff thrown.

- Visuals are appealing for both kids and adults alike. There's something about the LEGO movie that will make you want to pickup a LEGO set and build, build, build!

- The soundtrack is awesome. Everything is awesome. Lonely Island.

- Voice acting done are nice. Morgan Freeman as Vetruvius and Chris Pratt as the bumbling but lovable Emett is one of the best quality I've seen as early as now. Alison Brie's character here is also adorbs to the 10th power. Oh and there's also the 'cameo' of 22 Jump Street stars Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill. .

- I was rooting for Liam Neeson as Bad Cop. The guy has some issues and he's also a very well-written villain. Plus throughout the movie he's got some sweet rides and superior weaponry as well.

- The inclusion of the surprise bit redeemed the movie. It's the major reveal AND a nice appearance of one of the cast. Very nice family values imbued in it. That was actually well-thought of. Good job producers and director!

BAD

- Under utilizing Will Ferrell was a bad idea. Sure he's Lord Evil and he's got a huge OCD for perfection and  weaponized glue but he's not effective as a villain. Where's the Mugatu? I was expecting a Mugatu-esque performance but that wasn't executed.

- For a movie that's 'General Patronage' it's got a lot of violence. Lego's getting blasted, getting their heads cut off, getting glued and a whole lot more... Brick violence kinda throws the film off by a few degrees.

- I had such high hopes that the 3D here would be magnificent but it's a dud. Not impressed, not happy. You wont be missing anything if you see the film in a regular theater.

VERDICT

3.5 out of 5 LEGO Bricks

Special thanks to Warner Bros. Pictures. THE LEGO MOVIE is NOW SHOWING! 

Taken 2 Dominates RP Box Office at P64.82 Million Nationwide

“Taken 2” opened (Oct. 4) to a very strong weekend in the Philippines, dominating the local box-office with its 4-day nationwide opening weekend at P64.82million. The figure translates to an astounding 60% slice of the domestic market nationwide who came to see Neeson return as Bryan Mills, an ex-CIA whose special skills are unmatched and stops at nothing to protect his family.

“Taken 2’s” 4-day opening weekend at Metro Manila with a box-office of P46.32million alone amassed higher, ten times more than its predecessor. With its current box-office, Neeson’s “Taken 2” took in new records and is now the Biggest Opening Weekend for a Fox film this year. It also etched in as the 7th Biggest Opening Weekend for a Fox film All Time and is so far the 3rd Biggest 4-Day Opening Weekend for a Fox film All Time.

Taken 2 Review

Movie review for Taken 2 from 20th Century Fox starring Liam Neeson, Famke Janssen and directed by Olivier Megaton.

Liam Neeson as Bryan Mills is back and this time the action moves from the beautiful streets of Paris to the ancient and historic Istanbul. The chase continues but this time its Kim's mother and Bryan's ex-wife Leonore who is abducted by a bunch of revenge hungry Albanians.

Taken 2 Pans Istanbul in Raw Normalcy for Its High-Octane Action Scenes

Olivier Megaton who helms Liam Neeson’s sequel starrer “Taken 2” panned Istanbul with a fast-moving crew that’s rarely done on this sort of scale of a movie. The director has stripped the crew to its bare essentials and took them into the streets of Istanbul.

Like Daughter Like Father in Taken 2

Hit action director Olivier Megaton heats up the action arena with twice the thrill, action and carnage in the upcoming sequel “Taken 2” where the first movie cemented Liam Neeson as this era ’s most relatable action hero being a family man keen on saving his daughter at all cost from human trafficking.

From the first movie where his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) had been abducted by a cartel of human traffickers, “Taken 2” now follows Bryan Mills and his family at Istanbul where the father of the cartel’s leader is out to avenge his son killed by Mills during his daughter’s rescue. With Mills and his wife abducted this time, Kim tries to save them at breakneck speed taking cues from his father’s infallible timely instructions to track them down.

New Trailers for Dredd, Taken 2 and Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2

New trailers for three hotly anticipated movies - Taken 2, Dredd and Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn part 2.

DREDD

This poster definitely reminds me of Avengers X-Sanction # 1 by Loeb and McGuiness



The future America is an irradiated waste land. On its East Coast, running from Boston to Washington DC, lies Mega City One- a vast, violent metropolis where criminals rule the chaotic streets. The only force of order lies with the urban cops called "Judges" who possess the combined powers of judge, jury and instant executioner. Known and feared throughout the city, Dredd (Karl Urban) is the ultimate Judge, challenged with ridding the city of its latest scourge -- a dangerous drug epidemic that has users of "Slo-Mo" experiencing reality at a fraction of its normal speed.

Liam Neeson's Taken 2 Brings Back More Bad-ass Moments

Shot in Istanbul, Turkey and directed by Olivier Megaton , “Taken 2” reunites Liam Neeson with his co-stars Famke Janssen and Maggie Grace in this rocket-paced action sequel that rivals some of the greatest gun-handlers in cinema history.

Neeson reprises the role of Bryan Mills, a father and an estranged husband who would do anything for his family in the movie. Mills’ daughter having been kidnapped the first time. But he faces a different kind of conflict in “Taken 2.” Liam Neeson returns as Bryan Mills, the retired CIA agent with a particular set of skills who stopped at nothing to save his daughter Kim from Albanian kidnappers. When the father of one of the kidnappers swears revenge, and takes Bryan and his wife hostage during their family vacation in Istanbul, Bryan enlists Kim to help them escape, and uses the same advanced level of special forces tactics to get his family to safety and then systematically take out the kidnappers one by one.

“In the first movie he's really a guy with nothing to lose. He's divorced, he's lost his daughter, and you see his reaction when she's kidnapped,” explains Megaton. “In this movie, he's got that relationship back and he's even flirting with his ex-wife. It's almost cheesy, but that makes him all the more human at the beginning of the movie, because he's not thinking about his training, he's thinking about his family.”

But being kidnapped once is unfortunate; twice is just careless. Rest assured, then, that things play out differently in this sequel. “The powers-that-be–namely our gracious leader Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen—have come up with a much better plot than that,” assures Grace. “Someone has the notion of attempting to abduct Bryan. It's a personal vendetta; someone bent on extracting recompense from a man with a particular set of skills, as ill-advised as that might be. So it's not a random second abduction of my character, Kim, which I think would be everyone's first concern.”

“Taken 2” opens October in theaters from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.

MOVIE REVIEW: Battleship

Movie review for the film "Battleship" starring Taylor Kitsch, Rihanna and Liam Neeson courtesy of Ayala Malls.

Okay before going to the gist let me just thank the guys from Ayala Cinema for the special screening. I totally loved the seats they have in Greenbelt 3 as they were very comfortable.

GIST: The movie is great and looks clean. Taylor Kitsch also does a mean stoner and Rihanna looked so bad-ass in that scene where she was clutching that machine gun in the raft. Liam Neeson had a few good moments but was really absent throughout most of the story. The execution of the film was nice but it needed a few tweaks. Also as much as I liked the design for the "alien invaders" I couldn't help but think that the developers were playing too much "Halo".

If you're a fan of the board game or the game boy version, you will surely enjoy this. Plus there's some morality bits in the movie. 

Wrath of the Titans Review

Reviewing the film "Wrath of the Titans" starring Sam Worthington as Perseus, Rosamund Pike, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes from Warner Bros.

The film is the sequel to the remake of "Clash of the Titans" and is directed by Jonathan Liebesman. Like always, I cannot thank enough the good folks at Warner Bros. Philippines for the invite (I always stress that because I am forever in their debt).

GIST: The film is a far cry from the "Clash" and I mean it in a good way. And while there have been a lot of elements that have either been removed or revamped, the core appeal and the first movie's structure is still retained and changed a bit. The visuals and CGi on this movie is EPIC and I advise you to see this film (like "Clash) on IMAX although, I hear the non-3D version is still good enough. The total running time is just enough to make you go wow and avoid turning you into a bored veggie. Costume design and execution was pretty nice.

Meet the New Cast Members for Wrath of the Titans

Meet the new cast members for Warner Bros.' "Wrath of the Titans" which also stars Sam Worthington as Perseus as well as Liam Neeson as Zeus & Ralph Fiennes as Perseus' creepy uncle Hades.



Joining Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes in Warner Bros.' new fantasy adventure “Wrath of the Titans” are new cast members playing critical roles. They are Edgar Ramirez (“The Bourne Ultimatum”) as Ares, Toby Kebbell (“Prince of Persia”) as Agenor and Rosamund Pike (“Die Another Day”) as Queen Andromeda.

War of the Gods Erupts in "Wrath of the Titans"

Warner Bros. Pictures' new 3D epic adventure “Wrath of the Titans” revisits the Greek mythology first explored in the global box office hit “Clash of the Titans.” The new film is directed by Jonathan Liebesman and sees the return of Sam Worthington (“Avatar”) as Perseus, as well as Ralph Fiennes (the “Harry Potter” films) as Hades and Liam Neeson (“Taken”) as Zeus.

A decade after his heroic defeat of the monstrous Kraken, Perseus — the demigod son of Zeus — is attempting to live a quieter life as a village fisherman and the sole parent to his 10-year old son, Helius.

Wrath of the Titans Gets New Trailer

Warner Bros., "Wrath of the Titans" gets a second trailer which features more bashing and beating as well as more mythological creatures.

Watch it after the cut.

Wrath of the Titans Posters and Banners Revealed

Perseus aka Sam Worthington is back in the new posters for "Wrath of the Titans" which is a sequel for "Clash of the Titans" together with other returning cast members like Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes. Check out the new poster for Wrath together with a character banner.

Geek Review: Star Wars Episode 1 The Phantom Menace in 3D

An admittedly geeky review of Star Wars Episode I - The Phantom Menace in 3D starring Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Jake Lloyd and more directed by George Lucas.

Star Wars Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace in 3D Starts Next Week

A little reminder fanboys, February 9 will be the official opening day for the re-released 3D version of Star Wars Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace.

The film will star Liam Neeson, Natalie Portman, Ewan McGregor and Ray Park as Darth Maul.