CinemaWorld Extends The Halloween In November

The thrill goes on this November.

CinemaWorld, the first and only Pan-Asia international channel that offers the best of movie entertainment from the world’s best storytellers, brings more compelling and award-winning hits to Philippine television.  Move from Argentina, to Germany, to Sweden to experience an international kind of scare on CinemaWorld.

 

Forgotten

Reviewed by The Hollywood Reporter to be “stylish and atmospheric” and an “entertainingly old-school horror,” be sure to catch 2012 German Thriller Forgotten, as two childhood friends reconnect while on vacation on the island they grew up in and find out the horrific truths behind the disappearance of an old playmate years ago.  Forgotten will first air on CinemaWorld this November 10, at 9:00 PM.

In the 2013 Argentinian Thriller Thesis on a Homicide, former star lawyer Roberto Bermúdez (played by one of Argentina’s top award-winning actors, Ricardo Darín) now spends much of his time as a respected Criminal Law professor.  One night, a brutal murder is committed right in front of the Faculty of Law, luring the professor into the criminal case.  Roberto becomes convinced that one of his new students, the charismatic and brilliant but rather smug Gonzalo (played by Alberto Ammann), plotted the homicide as part of a perverse intellectual game to put the philosophical legal theories of his own “thesis” into cold-blooded practice.  But is Gonzalo really the killer?  Find out as the case unravels as Thesis on a Homicide premieres on CinemaWorld this November 24, at 9:00 PM.

A new Crime Series to look forward to every Friday night this November is Crimes of Passion, based off novels by Maria Lang, one of the first detective novelists in the Swedish language.  The six-episode series follows Puck (played by Tuva Novotny, voted second most beautiful woman in Sweden by Slitz Magazine), a student of literature; Einar (played by Linus Wahlgren), her tutor turned husband; and Christer (played by Ola Rapace, ex-husband of Noomi Rapace), police superintendent and best friend of Einar, in their quest to catch the killer.  Each episode is a classic “whodunnit” as the viewers follow the lives of interesting characters in an exciting thriller filled with love, sex, intrigue, betrayal, secrets, lies, and death.

All six episodes will be shown on CinemaWorld for Thriller Fridays.  Death of a Loved One will show on November 1, at 11:00 PM, followed by King Lily of the Valley, at 12:35 AM.  No More Murders will premiere on the channel on November 8, Roses, Kisses and Death on November 15 and Dangerous Dreams on November 22, and Tragedy in a Country Courtyard on November 29, all at 11:00 PM.

   Other movies this November for Sunday See The World include Orange Honey, which has won several awards including Best Director, Best New Screenwriter and Best Supporting Actress at the 2012 Malaga Spanish Film Festival and Special Grand Prize of the Jury at the 2012 Montreal World Film Festival, and 15 Years and 1 Day, which won Best Film and Best Screenplay at this year’s Malaga Spanish Film Festival and has qualified as Spain’s entry for the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 86^th Academy Awards.  Watch the Spanish Dramas on November 3 and November 17, respectively, both at 9:00 PM.

To know more about CinemaWorld, log on to www.facebook.com/CinemaWorldAsia, follow @CinemaWorldAsia, or visit www.cinemaworld.asia.

CinemaWorld is available in Metro Manila on Cable Link on channel 301, and on Sky Cable HD on channel 184.  Contact your cable operator for more details.

 

Robert De Niro Returns To His Mafia Origins in The Family

Movie online release

Robert De Niro is one of the most celebrated screen actors of all time. He continues to expand his boundless range with performances spanning from comic to serious and everything in between. Robert De Niro is back to his gangster ways starring in films like Goodfellas, Casino, The Untouchables, Once Upon Time in America and The Godfather II, De Niro has proven time and time again that he is at home in gangster genre. And while he’s starred in a few bad titles over the last few years, it’s always good to see him come back home, and that sentiment can now be extended to Luc Besson’s new crime comedy-thriller‘The Family’ (aka Malavita).

Based on the book “Badfellas” by ToninoBenacquista, The Family centers on the Manzino family, a mafia clan that has to go onto witness protection when the patriarch , Giovanni (De Niro), testifies against his associates. Hiding as Blakes, the family.

De Niro says he was attracted to the film’shumour and original point of view. “It’s an unusualtake on the mobster genre with a novel storyline,” he says. “My character was a crime boss in New York, but he turned in his whole crew. When he entered the Witness Protection Program with his family, they were sent to France, but every place they have been resettled, they end up in hot water. Now they are in the middle of nowhere and it might as well be Mars. The situation can seem a bit surreal, but the character is very real and relatable.”  

Always attuned to small points of authenticity, De Niro researched life in the Federal Witness Security Program, or WITSEC, prior to the shoot to see if an ex-crime boss from the East Coast might really end up in a small French village. “I learned that this situation could exist, especially if it were politically oriented in some way.” 

He also asked an expert to weigh in on life in the mob. “When we started really dealing with

the story, there were some little things that I felt weren’t entirely accurate about Fred’s world,” says

A key turning point in the film comes when Fred shocks his FBI handlers—and surprises even himself—with his plan to write a memoir that will set the record straight about exactly how he lived his life—and which could have disastrous results if it ever got out. “I think when you get older, if you feel you’ve done something unusual, good or bad, you want to tell your side of the story,” says De Niro. “That’s what motivates Fred. He wants to express his own take on this world and why he did what he did. He is in a sense trying to redeem himself. He wants to document how things went down and justify his decisions so he will have some peace of mind.”  

Fred also begins telling locals that he is working on a book about the Allied landing in Normandy during World War II. As an American writer, he is asked to speak at the local film club, which is screening, of all things, Goodfellas, a sly nod on Besson’s part to both De Niro and Scorsese‟s involvement in MALAVITA. The audience’s enthusiasm for the movie inspires the ex-gangster to share a few stories of his own. “And he likes the attention,” says De Niro. “Finally, he’s getting validation for all the things he’s done, not by people of his secret world, but by the larger legitimate world.”  

While on the set, De Niro had to adapt to Besson’s trademark breakneck pace of shooting, a quality he found energizing. “Luc works very fast. He has it all in his head when he comes to the set and he’s behind the camera, so he’s completely in control. He’s got the whole canvas in his head. I like the way he works a lot—there’s no wasting of time. It’s important for spontaneity.”  

The director says he was a bit in awe of working with the Oscar® winner. “I mean, I saw Mean Streets and Taxi Driver when I was 15,” says Besson. “But at the same time, I just had to roll up my sleeves and get to work. What’s the point of having Robert De Niro if you do nothing special with him? We worked hard. He’d be asking me questions all the time, calling me on the phone, and that was fine by me. He can wake me up any time.” 

“The Family” (aka Malavita) is released and distributed by Captive Cinema.

Sapi movie review

Story: A TV news correspondent is doing a coverage of a demon possession.

Review: The movie was done like a raw footage where the camera is still taping behind the scenes. The nameless cameraman stands as witness to the key characters it revolves on. What makes it interesting was that the characters are using their actual first names. But it is not a horror movie but it asks the questions what do we fear. The movie is an experimental art movie that will make you think about how it ends up.

Directed by Brillante Mendoza and starring Dennis Trillo, Meryl Soriano and Baron Geisler. Distributed and released by Solar Entertainment Corp.

Teen Fantasy Comedy In Love Bite

Axinite Digicinema release

A fresh twist on the definitive monster comedy movie, “Love Bite” is about to let loose its fangs to prey on the flesh of young and healthy teenage boys in the sleepy small town of Rainmouth.  Starring Ed Speelers (“Eragon”) and Jessica Szohr (“Gossip Girl,” “The Internship”), “Love Bite” finds Jamie (Speelers) along with his teenage friends living in their putrescent seaside town looking for more opportunities to get laid.  But in a town in which everyone knows everyone else, that’s easier said than done.  

Photo courtesy of Axinite Digicinema

                Things for Jamie have a habit of getting complicated. So when he meets Juliana (Szohr) – a smart, funny and absurdly beautiful girl from out of town – things quickly get, well, complicated.   Jamie starts to believe that Juliana might be a werewolf since she arrived at the same time several of his mates started to disappear.   All Jamie knows is that werewolves target virgins, which, he thinks, is probably the only reason she’s interested in him. 

                As the next full moon nears, relations with Jamie and Juliana start to hot up.  By the time they are ready to make things physical, the huge round moon is peeping through the clouds.   Before he can finally let the beast out of its cage, Jamie has to learn that it’s time to stretch his legs and get out of town for good.

                For director Andy De Emmony, the attraction to the script was instant. “I come from a background as a sculptor, doing lots of animatronics and that sort of thing,” he explains. “And plus I've done a lot of comedy, so being able to bring those two together was really the appeal.”         He collaborated with Cole to revise the script, he says. “From my point of view, the humor was there already, but it was important that we clarified the world we're in and established the rules of the werewolves.”

                With an overabundance of werewolf stories on the market, De Emmony saw an opportunity to give the beast a comic motivation – it preys on virginity, the very thing this film's cast of hormonal teens are especially keen to lose. “I always think it's slightly grey, when you see werewolves in other things, what their agenda is,” De Emmony laughs. “The quest to lose your virginity is there in most teenage boys anyway, and they don't even have the pressure of a battle for survival!”

Cameron Diaz in The Counselor

Twentieth Century Fox movie release

Renowned filmmaker Ridley Scott whose genre-defying films such as “Gladiator,” “Black Hawk Down,” “Alien” and “American Gangster” takes the crime-thriller genre a notch higher in his latest movie “The Counselor.”

 

Photo courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

                “The Counselor” brings together a dream cast that includes Michael Fassbender, Cameron Diaz, Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem and Brad Pitt.  The characters co-exist in the dark, tough and merciless world of drug cartel where a lawyer known only as the Counselor (Fassbender) is lured into the excitement, danger and easy-money of drug-trafficking, but finds that his momentary decision leads him on a downward spiral of unstoppable events and fatal consequences. The Counselor finds himself way out of his depth when an unplanned series of events lead to tragic consequences for both him and his fiancée, Laura (Penélope Cruz).  Cruz’s real-life husband, Javier Bardem plays Reiner, a larger-than-life nightclub owner who brings The Counselor into the shady deal. 

                Strong female leads are a Scott hallmark and Cameron Diaz portrays one of the filmmaker’s toughest and darkest characters ever. Diaz brings a rich history of comedic and dramatic work to her portrayal of Malkina, Reiner’s malevolent girlfriend who is sophisticated, sexy and darkly unsettling.   She is a sociopath whose lack of empathy means she’s capable of anything.  Malkina’s power stems from her relentless drive to take control and possess anything she believes she deserves.  Whatever the consequences of her actions, she feels absolutely no remorse.

Diaz who has appeared in almost all film genres, immediately responded to the script of “The Counselor.”  “Malkina is extremely smart. She is capable of anything. There is no humanity in Malkina.  The two questions she’s always asking herself are: how can I get what I deserve?  What do I have coming to me? Nothing else, no one else, is of any concern to her. Malkina is so powerful because she understands the consequences of her actions more than any other character,” says Diaz of her character.

“The only thing she wants is more [of everything],” adds Diaz.  “Malkina is compelled to take the power of every man, devour it, and then break down every woman.”  Diaz, who shares most of her scenes with Bardem, describes the characters’ complicated relationship:  “Malkina has found her sweet spot in Reiner. He is a man who will do anything for her, and of course, she had created that scenario.  Inadvertently, he has allowed her to take control of his world, to insert herself amidst his business dealings and take what she believes she deserves. Worse still, she has a good time doing it.  Ruining people’s lives is a sport for her.  It makes her feel alive. Reiner desperately wants to make her happy but she will never be happy. He will always keep trying, which means she can get whatever she wants, however she wants it and just give him enough to keep coming back.”

Sharing a considerable amount of screen time with a pair of cheetahs, Diaz wore a cheetah tattoo on her back and explains the link: “It’s the purity of the hunter in the cheetah she responds to and indeed loves.  The tattoo symbolizes her adoration and admiration for the cheetah because she feels such a kinship she is literally assuming their skin – the skin of the hunter because that’s who she is.”

Diaz made her feature film debut at age 21, captivating moviegoers as bombshell Tina Carlisle in “The Mask.”  She has since starred in more films including “There’s Something About Mary,” “Charlie’s Angels,” “Shrek,” “Vanilla Sky” and “My Best Friend’s Wedding”  that have grossed more than $100 million internationally.  She also went on to star in such independent films as “ The Last Supper,” “Feeling Minnesota,” opposite Keanu Reeves and Edward Burns’ “She’s the One.”

“The Counselor” opens November 13 in theaters from 20^th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.