OFF TOPIC: Update On My Friend's Hold Up Incident

I wish this were untrue, and I wish I could undo this, but it needs to be shared. 

At around 7:00 pm I withdrew money from Security Bank Annapolis GH branch, near my office. At 7:30-ish pm, I was hailing a cab. I only remember the cab being a beat-up white four-door sedan car with plate number TYL 409.

I can't recall who the driver was at the time and the name of the cab as written on the cab body outside sadly. I do now recall the locks were faulty, that the front windshield had the "cleanfuel" sticker (signifying it's using LPG gas power instead of gasoline), and black rubber at the back windows. The seats were all black leather and had the taxi information, which should be printed legibly, all blurry/erased. 

We made the turn from Annapolis, to EDSA, and then the U-turn under Ortigas flyover. We entered corner to White Plains, at Temple Drive, past People Power Monument. At a vacant lot nearby (before Meralco), and ironically while I was in the middle of texting my family my whereabouts, four men came in and they kicked him out of the cab.

A short description of the four (images here):

• Man 1 (guy by my right, "Badong"): Crew cut, chiseled face, somewhat pointy chin, small eyes, muscular build but slightly big stomach, with stubble, dark-skinned
• Man 2 (guy by my left): Dark-skinned, round face, chubby cheeks, bulging eyes, no beard/moustache, short hair parted at the middle, wearing blue long-sleeved Adidas sweater with white stripes at shoulders and sleeves, had a baseball cap that looked a lot like the red Air Asia cap with white text, pudgy arms and legs
• Man 3/”Boss”: Square face, flat cheeks, moustached stereotypical bad guy minus the big beard, dark-skinned, far-set bulging eyes, light moustache, beard, wearing blue long-sleeved Adidas sweater with white stripes at shoulders and sleeves, parang may white shirt sa loob, with grey beanie hat, had tubo, gravelly voice, muscular arms, pudgy legs 
• Man 4/Driver ("Bobot"): White cap, white shirt, circular glasses, features remind me of Brod Pete (a local comedian), thin, dark-skinned

I heard someone say “pasensya na (I’m sorry)” but I don’t recall who it is. I do recall the perpetrators drove me around EDSA from Ortigas Avenue to Quezon City, as far as the U-turn right before SM North. They kept threatening to bring me to Bulacan and rape me especially when I initially refused to give them my belongings. They took my ATM cards (Security Bank, BPI Express Teller), my Metrobank credit card, my black BlackBerry Torch 9800 with black Otter protective case, my personal Nokia phones (one is a pink 6020, the other is a black 2700 Classic), my Sony Cyber-shot silver T-100 digital camera, and my black Sony Vaio laptop. After “Boss” made some calls via mobile (they were very clever at keeping the numbers hidden), the gang dropped “Boss” off at Cubao walkway underpass, EDSA southbound at around 9:00 pm so he could withdraw money. He came back and tried to strangle, punch, slap, throw shoes/slippers at me when he couldn't get my credit card PIN out of me (it's fairly new and I don't memorize the PIN at all). They took turns trying to beat me up at some point, except for Driver because he was driving. I fought back, and they told me they would rape me because I wouldn't give them enough money (they needed PhP20,000 and even used Typhoon Sendong as a reason to hold me up). At around 10:00 pm they turned into NIA Road near BIR/PDEA in QC, and threw me out the cab. When Boss tried to hit me with a pipe/tubo, I vaguely remember clawing and kicking back, taking whatever was left of my things, and ran. I found myself at the QC Post Office security guard house (at the gate), and made phone calls to the QC PD, my mother's office, and my best friend's house as those were the only numbers I could contact. 

With my family finally arriving around 11:30 pm to almost midnight, I went to the QC Police Department at Kamuning/EDSA. We waited for a graying-haired 40-ish cop in a white undershirt and police uniform pants named SPO4 Patricio Sanoza (Sanyosa)  to whom I gave my statement, which is attached. I told him about what I recall about the cab, but he did not ask at all  about identifying the criminals.

My SIMs have all been blocked/disabled, as have my ATM and credit cards. Unfortunately they have switched off all phones so I am not sure if they can be traced at this point.  They are able to trace the ATM withdrawal transactions at Metrobank Valencia Hills though. I am cooperating with QCPD in catching the perpetrators.

  

The following day, a friend gave this information about the cab that held me up: 

Plate Number: TYL 409 / E#: 2E-3254892 / C#: EE110-8009918 / MV#: 138000000225318 / Col: Freedom White / Sticker#: 2011122773755 / MVType: Car / TradeName: / Make: Toyota/ Series: COROLLA XL M/T / YRModel: 2001 / MVClass: FOR - HIRE / Org: MARVIN SANTOS.. / OR#: 000201111852482 / CR#: 000000005541645 / BType:sEDAN - 4-DOOR / FRegDate: 09-25-2001 / LRegDate: 09-30-2011 / Fuel: GAS / Route: MARIKINA ANY PT TO LUZON / Franchise#: 96-945 / FEDate: 12-31-2007 / Total Apps: 0 /Total Alarms: 0 / Customer ID CO1378000031312 / Add: 10 MAYSAN ST. VALENZUELA 

  

Separately, I dropped by the QCPD Kamuning once more to get the official, correct copy of the police report I originally filed. There I met a woman named Donna Araujo who was held up on Christmas Day from Main Avenue in Cubao and dropped off at Balete Drive which is very similar to what happened to me. I am trying to get her assistance as she saw the name of the car, which is made purely of consonant letters.

Please stay safe everyone. Hope your Christmas is better than mine. I've seen posts where people blame me for not being vigilant -- excuse me, but I was held up right in the middle of sending my parents an SMS where I was riding, the point here is not whether or not I should've been vigilant but that they still ambushed me anyway even after acting towards my own self-preservation! 

And to these motherfuckers who hurt me and others like me, I hope and pray you lose everything you hold dear -- every body part, every item, every person, every business, every bit of cash, and every generation of your beloved families and clans -- as befits the punishment you have long tried to avoid. 

Links:

• My original Facebook post on this subject = https://www.facebook.com/ligayaharuka/posts/10150479183713815
• The ABS-CBN/Bandila news clip (December 23; easily viewed outside the Philippines via The Filipino Channel) = http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/video/nation/metro-manila/12/23/11/cops-warn-modus-during-holidays
• The ABS-CBN text version of the same news (December 23) = http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/metro-manila/12/23/11/woman-attacked-robbed-inside-taxi
• NEW: I finally managed to scan the cartographic sketches I had asked a key contact (who must remain anonymous until this case is solved, I owe this man and the people who got me to him greatly as I cannot achieve this drawing style myself) make. Here they are:man 1, man 2, man 3 (minus the beanie, which I tried to describe and even draw but somehow didn't make it to the sketch), and man 4.

Also posted in: http://mvlnunez.blogspot.com/2012/01/update-gal-who-lived.html#ixzz1jh64DO00

We Bought A Zoo

Story: Movie adaptation based on a true story. Widower Benjamin Mee starts a new life with his two kids on a newly purchased property with a zoo that housed 47 different species.

Review: At first, I thought it was also autobiographical since Benjamin Mee and director Cameron Crowe shares a same profession just like what Crowe did with the movie, Almost Famous, which is based on Crowe's experiences touring with bands for interviews. It turns out that it is a true story based on Benjamin Mee's adventure at the zoo with his children.

Being a widowed like Benjamin Mee is the most challenging task in the movie. Raising kids alone is not easy. This is one movie were you can learn more about having a family. This proves that even at the loss of one family member, the family is still complete.

The actual members of the Mee family

When I found out that it is based on a true story, I made a research about the event. There were some differences in the movie than what happened in real life but it is only a minor thing. The movie also highlights the music score mostly provided by Jónsi. We Bought A Zoo was distributed by 20th Century Fox and will open in Philippine cinemas on January 18.

REDISCOVERING THE LOVE STORY IN “THE VOW”

Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams

In Columbia Pictures' new, poignant romantic drama “The Vow,” Paige (Rachel McAdams) and Leo (Channing Tatum) are a young married couple, madly in love and living fulfilling lives as artists in Chicago. One snowy night, the two fall victim to a car accident. Leo survives intact, but a head trauma erases Paige’s entire memory of her relationship with her husband. When she comes out of her coma, Leo is a stranger to her. 

             Suddenly Leo finds himself in the painful position of rebooting the relationship he’s waited his whole life for, and win his wife's love all over again. Paige has reverted mentally to the young law student she was five years earlier, before she met Leo and became an artist. In seemingly an instant, she is no longer the wife Leo knew, and on top of that, she no longer recognizes her current life. She can’t fathom why she is estranged from her parents (Jessica Lange and Sam Neill), misses her more conservative wardrobe, and doesn’t understand why she would have dropped out of university and a promising career in law. Making matters worse, Paige thinks she's still engaged to charming businessman Jeremy (Scott Speedman), who still wants her, and remains reluctant to embrace Leo, with his less conventional lifestyle making music, as anyone she might have ever loved. 

             When Paige's memory recovery appears to be a hopeless cause, Leo begins to confront his worst fear—that he's lost the love of his life and his only family. Refusing to give up, he decides to start fresh and court Paige as if they've just met, with the hope that since they fell in love once, they can do it again. It’s a challenge that will test everything he’s ever believed about love, about being true to oneself, and about that sacred part of every marriage ceremony: the vow two people make to each other.

             “The Vow” is directed by Michael Sucsy (HBO's “Grey Gardens”) from a screenplay by Abby Kohn & Marc Silverstein and Jason Katims, story by Stuart Sender.

             Everybody loves a good romance, but hasn’t every love story been told by this point in the history of cinema?

             Spyglass Entertainment Co-Chairman Roger Birnbaum admits he’d grappled with this question for years. Then a news story crossed his desk: “I read an article about a couple who’d been in a car accident and the woman never recovered her memories of the man she loved.” Immediately, the unusual nature of the story spoke to him.

             What happened to New Mexico residents Kim Carpenter and his wife Krickitt -- an initially tragic but ultimately uplifting saga of a man and woman who found each other again after a seemingly insurmountable obstacle – touched many lives when it was first reported. The Carpenters would eventually publish a book about their experience in 2000.

             Spyglass producer Jonathan Glickman describes what interested them in the Carpenters’ story. “We got excited by the idea of telling a story of a relationship that was inspired by true events that had not yet been seen, but was also relatable to anyone because of the universal themes about the need to adapt to change for any relationship to last.”

             Krickitt Carpenter, who has been happily married to Kim now for 18 years even though the period of memory she lost never returned, boils down what happened to them this way: “My husband is amazing. He did everything he could to win me back. Life is full of ups and downs and challenges, but you have to dig down and be the best that you can be.”

             Honoring the emotional reality of such an extraordinary incident required coming up with an original story that had the right balance, explains Glickman, “Because the story is so emotional and gripping, we didn’t want to make it a melodrama, but something that could elevate itself to one of those classic love stories like `The Way We Were' or `Love Story.' The script needed to be accessible, with humor and a light touch throughout, so that we don’t take ourselves so seriously.” 

             “I just thought it sounded like an incredible premise for a film,” says director Michael Sucsy. “The fact that two people are already in love when the movie starts, and then they’re ripped apart, and then they have to find a way back to each other, that really touched me. The thing that hit me the most was the fact that this could happen to anybody at any time. A lot of time when we deal with memory loss, it’s about Alzheimer’s and growing old, but I thought this was a really universal way of being able to relate to the problem.”

              “The Vow” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International. Visit www.columbiapictures.com.ph to see the latest trailers, get free downloads and play free movie games.

JOSH HUTCHERSON EXPLORES “THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND” IN “JOURNEY” SEQUEL

Actor-on-the-rise Josh Hutcherson (upcoming “The Hunger Games”) returns as young explorer Sean in New Line Cinema's “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island,” the follow-up to the 2008 worldwide hit “Journey to the Center of the Earth.”

When the story opens, young Sean is definitely not where he wants to be.  It’s been years since his father’s death, and his mother, Liz (Kristin Davis), has recently married Hank (Dwayne Johnson) and relocated the family to suburban Ohio.  With no friends around, and a stepfather with whom he’s convinced he has nothing in common, Sean spends many solitary hours poring over his maps and Jules Verne novels and dreaming about undiscovered corners of the world that await him. 

            “He feels trapped,” says Hutcherson, who reprises a role that has matured in sync with his own life in the four years since “Journey to the Center of the Earth” first screened.  “He’s ready to move on to bigger things, and he’s filled with curiosity about the world, which I completely understand.  I think a lot of people do, even if they’re not necessarily interested in discovering lost islands.  There’s just a driving need to be out there on your own, figuring things out and finding your own way.”

            More specifically, Hutcherson emphasizes, “Sean doesn’t want any part of his step-dad.  He thinks the guy has nothing to offer; he’s unhip, uncool and has no imagination.”

            “Hank and Sean are at odds from the beginning, as one wants to connect and the other wants to distance himself,” explains Johnson.  “Family is one of the most important thing to Hank, and his intention throughout the story is to make his family whole again.”

            But as noble as Hank’s intentions are, Sean feels he’s to blame for everything wrong with his life right now.  More importantly, he’s sure to be the immovable object standing between Sean and the exploration the young man considers his birthright. 

That assumption will be tested sooner than Sean thinks when he receives a strange radio call one night.  It’s an encrypted S.O.S. that he suspects may be from his grandfather, Alexander, who hasn’t been heard from since he set out to prove that the Mysterious Island in Jules Verne’s novel was fact and not fiction. 

            “Alexander is Sean’s idol.  He’s pretty much always done whatever he wanted, and he’s always off on some crazy expedition,” says Hutcherson.  “If Alexander is in trouble, Sean will do anything to reach him.”

            Sean couldn’t be more thrilled and vindicated.  But his euphoria at finding his grandfather is short-lived when he learns that getting off the island will be much harder than falling onto it, and that they have very little time in which to accomplish it.   The ground beneath them is sinking.  Fast.  The entire land mass will be underwater in days, if not hours, and their slim chance of survival is entirely in their own hands.

Hutcherson was most recently seen in Lisa Cholodenko’s Academy Award®-nominated feature, “The Kids are All Right.”  His additional film credits include “The Vampire’s Assistant,” opposite John C. Reilly and Salma Hayek; “Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D,” “Bridge To Terabithia”; “Firehouse Dog”; “RV”; “Little Manhattan”; “Zathura” and “The Polar Express.”   Hutcherson won Young Artist Awards for Leading Young Actor for his roles in “Zathura” and “Bridge to Terabithia.”

             “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island” is a New Line Cinema presentation, will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

LEONARDO DiCAPRIO VIES FOR BEST ACTOR WITH “J. EDGAR”

Coming off Christopher Nolan's explosive blockbuster “Inception,” Leonardo DiCaprio now makes his first-ever Clint Eastwood-directed film with Warner Bros.' controversial drama “J. Edgar.” For his riveting portrayal of J. Edgar Hoover, DiCaprio has been nominated for Best Actor at the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Awards, and a favorite to earn the same honor at the Oscars.

             A towering figure in American history, J. Edgar Hoover devoted himself to public service, essentially putting aside any personal relationships he might have wanted to have for what he considered to be the greater good. As one who served to gain authority as well as the public’s adoration, he saw his opportunity to achieve both by positioning himself as a supreme crime-fighting figure, a hero of the populace.

             “Hoover was incredibly ambitious as a young man,” says DiCaprio, who took on the character that would take him from a man in his twenties to one at 77. “He was highly motivated to succeed in Washington, primarily due to his mother’s expectations of him. His father had failed to become a major political figure, and Annie Hoover wanted her son to carry the family name to great fame and fortune, with little or no regard for what else Edgar might have needed for himself. He became this stoic, bulldog enforcer who had to keep his personal life very personal. He became all about secrets.”

             With so little known about the man’s inner life, DiCaprio did vast amounts of research in order to create a fully realized Hoover on screen. “It was a terrific challenge to breathe life into this person, because he was such a mystery,” he says. “I did find that he was very manipulative and very charming; he could charm anyone in the room but at the same time intimidate them. He liked the spotlight, but he concentrated so much on work that it defined much of who he was, his morals, the decisions that he made on really every level. I hesitate to use the word priest because J. Edgar Hoover was no priest, but he certainly looked at the FBI as his church.”

             “Leo is a total professional, he comes completely prepared,” Eastwood says. “From the start, I could see he’d done all of his homework, thought a lot about what he had to do, and was interested in my take on things. I was really impressed by his focus, and I think it translated into the character.”

             The actor was thrilled to be working with the legendary director. “Clint’s process is impeccable because he trusts his own instincts, he trusts his gut. There’s a beautiful simplicity to the way he works; he has one vision, which made it easier to do my job. He’s really like a corner man. It was like going into the ring and having your coach there, backing you up. And I think that confidence and support are evident on the screen.”

             DiCaprio concludes, “I think what allowed me to really get a real sense of Hoover I was portraying was that, at its heart, ours is a story about the person inside. Lots of stories have been told about the man, but I feel that his relationships with [close friend] Clyde Tolson, [secretary] Helen Gandy and his mother really forged who he was for the entirety of his life and career. That was what compelled me to go to work every day, and it’s what I hope will intrigue people as they watch the movie.”

              “J. Edgar” is distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

UIP-Solar's 2012 Line Up

Manila, Philippines –United International Pictures. together with its local affiliate Solar Entertainment Corp., one of the country’s leading film distributors, recorded its biggest year of all time in 2011 at theatrical grosses of PHP1.600 billion and still counting, announces by Mr. Wilson Tieng President of Solar Entertainment Corp. Surpassing  Warner’s Bros. 2010’s  record of PHP1.3 billion

Tent-poles films, which were mostly great sequels, such as Fast and Furious 5, Kung Fu Panda 2, Transformers: Dark of the Moon and Marvel’s Thor quickly escalated the gross tallies to 1 billion in the second quarter of 2011. Tent-pole films on the horizon also have all the potential, to reach 1 billion this oncoming year with firestarters left and right such as Universal Pictures’ Battleship, Snow White and the Huntsman, Safe House, Bourne Legacy, American Pie: The Reunion, Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, 47 Ronin, and Les Misarables; Paramount Pictures’ G.I. Joe Retaliation, and the re-envisioning of the classic tale Hansel and Gretel: Witchhunter; and DreamWorks’ 3D animation Madagascar 3 and Rise of the Guardians.

BATTLESHIP. An epic action-adventure that unfolds across the seas, in the skies, and over land as our planet is forced to fight for survival against a superior armada of unknown origins.

Kristen Stewart as Snow White

SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN. In the epic retelling of the classic tale Snow White and the Huntsman, Kristen Stewart (Twilight) plays as the one person in the land fairer than the Evil Queen (Oscar® winner Charlize Theron) who dispatches the Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth, Thor) to destroy her. Unknown to the Queen, The Huntsman becomes the protector of the young woman threatening her reign, training her in the art of war. Sam Claflin (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) joins the cast as the prince long enchanted by Snow White's beauty and power. This breathtaking new twist of the legendary tale is from producers Joe Roth (Alice in Wonderland), Sam Mercer (The Sixth Sense) and acclaimed commercial director and state-of-the-art visualist Rupert Sanders.

Washington and Reynolds in Safehouse

SAFEHOUSE. An action-thriller lead by Oscar® winner Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds (Buried, Green Lantern). Washington plays a dangerous renegade from the CIA, who returns onto the grid after a decade on the run.  When the South African safe house he’s remanded to is attacked by mercenaries, a rookie operative (Reynolds) escapes with him. Now, the unlikely allies must stay alive long enough to uncover who wants them dead.

BOURNE LEGACY. A spy fiction thriller story centered on a new CIA operative in the universe based on Robert Ludlum's novels. Jeremy Renner stars as Aaron Cross, succeeding Matt Damon in the long-running critically-acclaimed movie series.

AMERICAN PIE: REUNION. In the comedy American Reunion, all the American Pie characters we met a little more than a decade ago are returning to East Great Falls for their high-school reunion. In one long-overdue weekend, they will discover what has changed, who hasn’t, and that time and distance can’t break the bonds of friendship. It was the summer of ‘99 when four small-town Michigan boys began a quest to lose their virginity. In the years that have passed, Jim (Jason Biggs) and Michelle (Allyson Hannigan) married while Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas) and Vicky (Tara Reid) said their goodbyes. Oz (Chris Klein) and Heather (Mena Suvari) grew apart, but Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) still longs for Stifler’s(Seann William Scott) mom. Now these lifelong friends have come home as adults to reminisce about—and get inspired by—the hormonal teens, they once were, that launched a comedy legend.

Dr. Seuss' The Lorax

DR. SEUSS: THE LORAX. The fourth feature film based on a book by Dr. Seuss. The story tells of a boy (voiced by Zac Efron) who tries to discover the story of The Lorax (Danny DeVito), hoping to the one thing that will win him the affection of Audrey (voiced by Taylor Swift), the girl of his dreams.

47 RONIN. Keanu Reeves stars as Kai in this fantasy-adventure period film depicting a band of samurai swordsmen led by Oishi (Hiroyuki Sanada, The Last Samurai) who seek to avenge the murder of their master in 18th century Japan, embarking on a journey of insurmountable odds.

LES MISERABLES. Based on Victor Hugo’s all time classic novel of a convict imprisoned and released for stealing a loaf of bread and is pursued for years by an obsessed police official. As time passes, the convict takes on a new identity, adopts an orphaned girl and fights in the French Revolution. Les Miserable will be starred by the all-star cast of Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen; it will be directed by Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech).

Channing Tatum as Duke

 G.I. JOE: RETALIATION. The upcoming sequel to 2009’s sci-fi-action film G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra, Retaliation continues where Rise of the Cobra left off. The G.I. Joe team is framed as traitors by Zartan, last seen disguised as the U.S. President). The Joes gather their numbers to expose the truth, and stop Cobra. Channing Tatum, Arnold Vosloo, Ray Park, Jonathan Pryce and Lee Byung-hun reprise their roles as Duke, Zartan, Snake Eyes, The US President, and Storm Shadow, respectively, with the star addition of Bruce Willis and Dwayne Johnson.

Madagascar 3

MADAGASCAR 3: EUROPE’S MOST WANTED. Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett Smith and David Schimmer reprise their roles as Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Gloria the Hippo, and Melman the Giraffe in the third installment of the computer-animated comedy of the Madagascar movie series. The bands are still fighting to return to their beloved Big Apple after escaping from Africa and ending up on a European detour; King Julien (Sacha Baron Cohen), Maurice(Cedric the Entertainer) and the Penguins(Tom McGrath, Chriss Miller, John DiMaggio and Christopher Knights) are all along for the adventure. This time the road takes them through Europe where they find the perfect cover: a traveling circus, which they reinvent, Madagascar style!

HANSEL AND GRETEL: WITCH HUNTER. Witch Hunter is just one of numerous supernatural action movie re-envisionings on the horizon, and it features rising stars Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton as the adult versions of the famous fairy tale siblings, in this twisted retelling, who are now highly-skilled professional bounty hunters who track, yes, witches.

RISE OF THE GUARDIAN- This upcoming 3D computer-animated action adventure comedy follows a group of kid’s mythic heroes who join forces to stop an evil creature. It is based on The Guardians of Childhood books written by William Joyce, who will also direct, with Guillermo Del Torro (Pan’s Labyrinth) producing. It will have an ensemble cast in the persons of Jude Law, Hugh Jackman, Chris Pine, Isla Fisher, and Alec Baldwin.

KATE BECKINSALE BACK AS SELENE IN “UNDERWORLD AWAKENING”

Kate Beckinsale returns as Selene

Fans of the first two Underworld films are sure to be thrilled by the return of actress Kate Beckinsale in the role of the fearsome Vampire huntress Selene, in Columbia Pictures' 3D action-thriller “Underworld Awakening.” “We really wanted to work with Kate again,” says producer Gary Lucchesi. “Sometimes the stars just align themselves perfectly and this is one of those times.”

             Beckinsale admits she thought twice about slipping back into the familiar skintight black latex suit before accepting the part again. “But it was a life-changing role for me, so I feel very affectionate towards it. It’s exciting to be able to follow a character over such a long period of time. It’s rare to get that chance.”

             Tom Rosenberg, Lakeshore Entertainment chairman and CEO, says he’s thrilled to have Beckinsale in the film. “She is Selene, and Selene is the heart and soul of Underworld. Right from that first scene in the first film, she embodied the perfect tone.”

             On set, it was clear she had lost none of the edge that made Selene an iconic figure in Underworld lore. “Kate can switch into Selene like that,” says co-director Mårlind, snapping his fingers. “She can be having a laugh, but when action’s called, she has those guns up and she looks like she’s going to kill you. She has a highway into Selene that is fantastic. As a director, it’s marvelous to have someone who is so close to their character.”

             Revisiting the character and mythology that helped launch her career as a bona fide movie star was great fun for the actress. “It was exciting to do this together with the people who created the original film in a new environment with a different set of problems for Selene,” she says. “We all wanted a really fresh take and I think we’ve achieved that.”

             The most unsettling change for Selene is finding that she has a daughter. “Suddenly being presented with a child who’s almost fully grown is a shock, especially when the girl’s father is gone,” says Beckinsale. “It’s quite a lot to handle. I wouldn’t say Selene is suddenly soft and maternal, but she’s protective in a new and different sort of way.”

             After a centuries-long lifetime of being answerable to no one, Selene is only slowly able to embrace her daughter, says co-writer J. Michael Straczynski. “It brings out another side of her,” he notes. “In the previous movies, she was primarily focused on battling the bad guys. She was fighting against them, not fighting for someone, as she is now.”

             The child opens up the character of Selene to a host of new possibilities and allows the character some emotional moments unlike anything in the previous films. “For the first time, there is a certain amount of vulnerability in Selene,” says producer Richard Wright. “She has an interplay with Eve that is very un-Selene like. Selene is very cold and nothing gets under her skin. She loves no one, she’s a killing machine—and then she has a daughter.”

             Eve’s presence adds a new dimension to an already unique storyline, observes Beckinsale. “There aren’t very many female-led franchises, that work without being deliberately titillating or objectifying the lead character. I think that’s one of the great things about Selene becoming a mother, with all the attendant conflicts.”

            Opening across the Philippines on Friday, Jan. 20 in IMAX 3D, Digital 3D and regular theaters, “Underworld Awakening” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International. Visit www.columbiapictures.com.ph to see the latest trailers, get free downloads and play free movie games.