ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER trailer2

Benjamin Walker as Abraham Lincoln

“Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” explores the secret life of one of the greatest US presidents, and the untold story that shaped a nation. Visionary filmmakers Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov (director of "Wanted") bring a fresh and visceral voice to the bloodthirsty lore of the vampire, imagining Lincoln as history's greatest hunter of the undead.

Based on the mash-up novel by Seth Grahame-Smith of which he also co-wrote the screenplay with Simon Kinberg (best known for his work in “Mr. & Mrs. Smith”), Benjamin Walker stars at the titular character on his quest for bloodthirsty vampires and trying to end a war where only the living can kill the undead.   Starring alongside Walker in this vein-thumping film are Rufus Sewell, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Alan Tudyk  and Dominic Cooper.

Fangs beware when the hound starts June 21 in theaters! “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” –from 20^th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros. in local theaters.

21 Jump Street

Story: Two cops are unlikely partners goes undercover as high school students to fight crime. Based on the popular TV series.

Review: I am a huge fan of the TV series that launched Johnny Depp in stardom. This movie remake will turn on a different direction from the series. You don't need to watch or ask someone like me about the series so you can understand the movie. Think of it as another generation of the Jump Street program. As expected, Jonah Hill provided the comedy for the movie. What I didn't expect that he was the protagonist of the movie and not co-star Channing Tatum. It was quite a progress for Hill to make it for the main role. He was usually cast as a friend of the main character in previous comedy movies with Seth Rogen mostly. What is surprising here is that I never knew Tatum could also do comedy. Maybe because I think he is too buffed.

The idea or concept of the movie is that there are crimes that needed to be solved by police officers who look like they are still in high school. During the time of Depp, they were called babyface cops. Hill may still be passed as a high school but not Tatum. The movie also made me reminisced since I watched the series during my sixth grade and it has cameos from the TV casts. There is also the base of operations of the Jump Street program which is the same as the series. The series aired from 1987 to 1991 and spin-offed another series, Booker, which was a title role played by Richard Grieco as Dennis Booker.

The movie turned out pretty well better than I expected and it also paid tribute for the series in it's own way. There will be a sneak preview on the 23rd an 24th of April. 21 Jump Street opens regularly in local cinemas in May. Released and distributed by Columbia Pictures Philippines.

ROOKIE COPS GO UNDERCOVER AS HIGH SCHOOL TEENS IN “21 JUMP STREET”

Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum in 21 Jump Street

Channing Tatum pairs up with Jonah Hill in Columbia Pictures' new action-comedy “21 Jump Street,” a recent No. 1 box-office hit in the U.S. 

             In the film, Schmidt (Hill) and Jenko (Tatum) were enemies in high school who became unlikely friends in Police Academy. While they may not be the best cops on the beat, they have a chance to turn it around when they join the police department's secret Jump Street unit, run by Captain Dickson (Ice Cube). They trade in their guns and badges for backpacks and use their youthful appearances to go undercover. 

             Trouble is, teenagers today are nothing like what they were just a few years ago, and Schmidt and Jenko discover that everything they think they know about being a teenager, from sex to drugs to rock and roll, is all wrong. More importantly, they both find they are still dealing with all of the adolescent problems they didn't address in their own teen years - and both will have to confront the terror and anxiety of being a teenager again and all the issues they thought they had left behind.

             The idea for breathing new life into “21 Jump Street” as a feature film began with Stephen J. Cannell, who had co-created the popular television series with Patrick Hasburgh back in the day. One of the most venerable, talented, and prolific television writer-producers, Cannell’s many credits – from “The A-Team” to “The Rockford Files” to “The Greatest American Hero” to “Wiseguy,” among many others – earned him a legion of fans and admirers, especially among his colleagues in entertainment. 

             One such admirer is producer Neal H. Moritz, who has earned his own reputation as a go-to producer of action films. “He was incredibly charismatic – I loved everything about him,” says Moritz of Cannell, who died in 2010 at the age of 69. Moritz recalls their initial meeting: “We started talking about ’21 Jump Street’ and I told him how much I had loved that show. He mentioned that he was working on turning it into a movie, that he was a fan of my movies, and he asked me if I would like to get involved with the project. Are you kidding?”

             “21 Jump Street” ran for five seasons, the first four on the nascent Fox network, providing them with one of their first hits. Starring Johnny Depp in his first major role, the drama about young-looking cops going undercover in high schools scored high ratings in the key demographic of young viewers that the then-fledgling network was beginning to court. 

             Moritz and executive producer Tania Landau immediately saw the promise in updating that premise, but it wasn’t until Jonah Hill became involved that the project really came into focus. “It’s a great concept,” Landau says. “Two young-looking cops go undercover at a high school, and against all odds, bust a drug ring. We make a lot of action movies, so that was how we saw the direction for this project, too. But things changed when we had lunch with Jonah; he suggested doing it as an R-rated action comedy, and suddenly it all fell into place.”

             Hill says that it started with a simple question: "What would it be like to relieve the most important time period of your youth... high school. You think you have all the answers that you didn't have then, but then you get back there and realize those answers are all wrong. You then immediately revert back to the insecurities and problems you had when you were seventeen." 

             Moritz and Landau immediately sparked to Hill's fresh take on the material, and Cannell, too, thought it was a great spin on the “Jump Street” series.

             “21 Jump Street” will be distributed in the Philippines by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International. Visit http://www.columbiapictures.com.ph for trailers, exclusive content and free downloads. Like us at www.Facebook.com/ColumbiaPicturesPH and join our fan contests.

Battleship

Story: A naval war game exercise was interrupted when an otherworldly opponent decides to join in. Based on the Hasbro strategy game of the same name.

Review: When I first heard that Hasbro is bringing their long time strategy game to the cinemas, I was skeptic because the game never had a story behind it. But then I was also felt the same when I first heard they  were doing Transformers.

For the movie patron, you need not play the game just to understand the movie. It is not a prerequisite. The game is quite simple. There are two players. Each player has its own side that looks like a console of a ship's radar and can never see the other player's side. Each player has 5 items. An aircraft carrier, a battleship, a submarine, a destroyer, and a patrol boat. Each player has a 10 x 10 square grid where the ships of the fleet are deployed secretly. The ship vary in size and may occupy 2 to 5 spaces in the grid depending on the ship's size. Each player take turns to fire until one fleet is wiped out. Both players are firing blind so it is also a guessing game. The players announces with total honesty whether there is a hit or not. This game rules also applied in the movie.

Battleship Game

As for battling aliens, it was nothing new. Independence Day uses fighter jets, Battle Los Angeles has the infantry, now it's the navy. But I never thought that it could be better than I anticipated. Besides that, I am also watching it because of Liam Neeson. The movie also given spotlight to U.S.S Missouri. This battleship served during World War II, the Vietnam War then it decommissioned. Later during the Gulf Crisis, it was recommissioned and refitted and again was decommissioned. It wasn't the first time Missouri was used for Hollywood. It was also the setting of a Steven Segal movie, Under Siege. The Missouri is now in the naval shipyard at Pearl Harbor as a museum.

Battleship is released and distributed by Solar Entertainment Corp. Advance screening was held at SM City North EDSA Cinema.

HOW MARVEL CAST “THE AVENGERS” TEAM

Completing the award-winning cast of “ Marvel’s The Avengers” proved to be a breeze for the filmmakers. “One of the great things when you make a film that’s been set up like this is that you start the casting process 80% done,” informs producer Louis D’ Esposito. 

             Leading the cast are Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Tom Hiddleston, with Stellan Skarsgård and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury.

             Every team has a go-to guy when the chips are down and “The Avengers” is no different as they turn to billionaire, industrialist playboy Tony Stark aka Iron Man. One of the cornerstones and fan favorite of the Marvel Universe, the first two installments of the “Iron Man” franchise, starring Robert Downey Jr. have grossed a combined 1.2 billion at the worldwide box office.

             “Robert is a tour de force as Tony Stark and he injects that confidence and sense of humor that brought to life and defined the character in the best way possible in both ‘Iron Man’ films,” says producer Kevin Feige. “We wanted to give Robert scenes with all the characters as we knew it would be a lot of fun to watch Tony’s interaction with Captain America, Thor and The Hulk. When Robert walks on the screen, the audiences embrace him in a very big and palpable way; he really is a powerhouse for us and the film.”

             Downey shares, “Tony initially thinks forming the team is ridiculous, but being Tony Stark, he is more open to the realm of possibilities that exist in the world of ‘The Avengers.’ Tony already had hints of it from Nick Fury who has been stringing him along for a while about becoming part of a larger universe.”

             The director of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement Logistics Division) and the person trying to convince Tony Stark to join “The Avengers” team is Nick Fury played by Samuel L. Jackson. 

             For Jackson, having Nick Fury front and center in “The Avengers” was a welcomed change to the many cameo roles in the other Marvel franchises leading up to this film. “It’s great to be the guy who is the organizer of The Avengers team,” says Jackson. “He’s the guy who has the raison-d’être that kind of understands the threat and has to get them to understand the nature of the threat; that we’re a lot stronger together than they are individually. Using Coulson in a manipulative way to get them to do what he needs them to do is not above Nick’s character. He does kind of fudge the truth a bit to get them to take the bait and join in, and eventually they all do.”

             One Avenger who is suffering a little heartbreak is Captain America, played by Chris Evans. Frozen in a block of ice since 1945, Captain America awakes from the deep freeze to find a world he knows nothing about and where all of his friends and comrades have passed away.

             “It’s not just that Captain America wakes up in a whole new world; it’s the fact that he has to deal with the emotions of finding out that everybody he knows is dead,” says Chris Evans. “Every single person he called brother on a battlefield is gone and the world around him is a different place. It’s more fast-paced and impersonal because new technologies have put barriers between people. In the ’40s there was much more of a direct and honest sincerity in the way people behaved and I think human interaction helps breed manners. Waking up in modern day is just an extremely different way of life that Steve Rogers now has to get used to.”

             “Starring as Captain America was scary and exhilarating at the same time,” says Evans. “’Thor’ had already opened and done very well and so I kept thinking Captain America better open and do well because I don’t want to be the weak link of the ‘The Avengers.’ Luckily the film did well and it was an amazing feeling to see kids’ faces light up when they saw me in the costume. It really was a completely new experience for me, for which I am very grateful. ”

             Another newly christened franchise in the Marvel Universe is “Thor.” The film kicked off the summer of 2011 with a bang when it opened #1 at the box with $65.7 million and went on to gross $446 million worldwide. In “The Avengers” Chris Hemsworth reprises his title role as the hammer-wielding Norse god Thor.

             Hemsworth explains why family issues force Thor to return to Earth in “The Avengers”: “Thor has conveniently come back to earth briefly because Odin summons dark powers from the universe and it’s very costly,” explains Hemsworth. “He’s come back to retrieve Loki, who’s running madness on Earth and causing a lot of chaos. He also has some questions of his own he wants answered like, ‘How did this happen and where did I and my brother go wrong?’”

             The actor continues, “In ‘Thor’ my character learned a whole lot about humility and gained a new respect for humans because they were able to help him discover who he needed to become in order to earn his powers back. I also think he feels very protective of humans now because of his relationship with Jane. Joining The Avengers team is also tricky because he has a personal investment in that his brother Loki is the one who’s causing the chaos and he fears that the others may just want to kill him instead of just stopping him and taking away his powers.”

             Helping Nick Fury keep The Avengers on point for their mission is Natasha aka Black Widow. Reprising her role from “Iron Man 2,” Scarlett Johansson was happy to slip back into the sexy suit of her character’s alter ego Black Widow.

             “To be honest, I really didn’t know what the future would hold for the Black Widow after ‘Iron Man 2,’” informs Johansson. “I didn’t know how the fans would respond, but to be a part of the Marvel Universe and playing such a dynamic, ass-kicking character is pretty exciting. The first time you saw this character in ‘Iron Man 2,’ you didn’t get to learn much about her because she’s a bit of a slippery fish. She still has many different faces she puts on and, to this day, she still is divisive in that way. In this film, audiences will get to see more of her history and kind of shady past, which to me is very exciting because the darker part of the character was always very appealing to me.”

             Black Window sets off to find Bruce Banner, played by Mark Ruffalo, who has gone off the grid in order to stay away from anything that can bring stress and conflict into his life. 

             For Ruffalo, his friend and colleague Robert Downey Jr. was the inspiration he needed to take on the role. “’The Avengers”’ isn’t the type film that I’ve done in the past or that I am usually invited to do,” laughs Ruffalo. “I was a little nervous about it because when Joss Whedon and I first met about the role there wasn’t a script. I thought a lot about Iron Man. I thought about what Robert Downey Jr. did with that part—he is one of my hero actors. I really loved what Robert did; he reinvented the genre. It made me feel like I could fit into that world with whatever it is I do. I had one meeting with Joss, who I liked instantly, so between him and Robert I was in.”

             “What appealed to both Joss and I about the character is that he would have a common man sort of feel to him and possess this world-weary charm,” says Ruffalo. “We also agreed he should have a sense of humor about his situation. Based on the last incarnation of The Incredible Hulk, there was the promise that Banner may actually have a little control over the Behemoth. We wanted him to be fun and interesting as Banner and awesome as Hulk.”

             Playing Hawkeye is two-time Academy Award® nominated actor Jeremy Renner who says playing a character in the Marvel Universe who is human and grounded in reality was an attractive element that intrigued him.

             “Producer Kevin Feige showed me images of Hawkeye from ‘The Ultimates’ and they were very cool, but what I liked more then anything was the idea that he’s a human being with a high skill set who is a bit of a rogue agent. I’ve played a few snipers before and there’s a really interesting mentality that comes along with being a sharp shooter, so I thought it was a pretty fun character to play.”

             With the casting process completed, producer Kevin Feige reflects upon his deeply talented cast and his desire to keep their characters grounded in authenticity. “The great thing about the Marvel Universe is that it takes place in the real world; it’s not a fictitious Metropolis,” explains Feige. “A big part of this equation is having a team that can deliver that right balance of emotion so that audiences can connect to the human element of the story. We have been rewarded for making those slightly against-the-grain choices in finding the right actor for the job, whether they’ve ever been in these types of films or not. When I think about the cast in this film from top to bottom, I still get giddy with excitement because they all are fantastic artists who understand what we need in terms of performance and all bring their own unique sensibilities that elevate each of their roles.”

             (“Marvel’s The Avengers”  is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International through Columbia Pictures.)

ZAC EFRON, “LUCKY” TO PLAY A WAR HERO

Zac Efron in The Lucky One

Zac Efron stars in Warner Bros.' new romantic drama “The Lucky One” as U.S. Marine Sergeant Logan Thibault on his third tour of duty in Iraq. Almost immediately, he is thrust into a firefight that changes his life forever. 

             In the film, Logan returns home from his tour of duty, with the one thing he credits with keeping him alive—a photograph he found of a woman he doesn’t even know. Discovering her name is Beth (Taylor Schilling) and where she lives, he shows up at her door, and ends up taking a job at her family-run local kennel. Despite her initial mistrust and the complications in her life, a romance develops between them, giving Logan hope that Beth could be much more than his good luck charm.

             The role itself changed Efron, who literally had to transform himself physically and emotionally, to look, move and react like a Marine who had served in a war zone and seen far more violence and loss than his family or peers at home could even imagine. 

             Director Scott Hicks explains, “When we first see Logan, we need to know what he's gone through and understand some of the sense of trauma that he carries with him out of this conflict. I was very impressed by Zac’s commitment to not only change his physique but also to get into the mindset of a soldier. He created the slightly stony exterior of someone a little mysterious—a character we don’t know a great deal about at first.” 

             “Initially I wasn’t convinced I could pull this off,” Efron recalls, “but the more I thought about it, and the more I talked to Scott, I realized if there was ever going to be a chance to play a role so different from what I’ve played before, this was it. I knew I had to put in the work to be able to play Logan, and I felt capable in Scott’s hands.”

             Producer Denise Di Novi says, “One of my favorite things about being a producer is watching actors reinvent themselves, and that’s what Zac did. He just looks like a different person in this film. How he walks, how he stands, how he holds himself…it was a thrill to see him become Logan.”

             Producer McCormick concurs, “Even though he'd never done anything like it before, Zac was really able to bring a very specific and unique take on Logan. We literally saw somebody who's been so youthful in every other movie legitimately turn into a man in front of our very eyes. That really helped make Nick Spark’s character come to life. Apart from looking like a Marine, Zac brought a reservoir of pain and strength in equal measure.” 

             Efron’s preparation to play a seasoned Marine included the physical rigors of training several months prior to production with military consultant James Dever, a retired Sergeant Major who spent twenty-five years in the U.S. Marine Corps, and rising at 3:30 a.m. during filming to continue the regimen. That and a strict diet added 20 pounds of bulk to the actor. To complete the exterior metamorphosis, Efron buzzed his signature hair. 

             The internal work was equally, if not more, demanding. In order to get into his character’s psyche, Efron travelled with Hicks to Camp Pendleton to talk to Marines and see combat through their eyes. 

             Efron recalls, “When I got there it was like stepping into a different world. They stood with a purpose. They had laser focus, never broke eye contact. This is my generation, on the front lines. They’ve experienced some pretty gruesome things. We sat and talked for several hours and they were the most amazing conversations I've ever had with anybody. In terms of research, it was priceless. I can't thank them enough. The stories and personal feelings they shared became part of the canvas for Logan.”

             “We took very seriously what these young guys go through serving overseas,” Di Novi remarks. “Zac respected it, absorbed it, really internalized it, and I think you see that on film. He does a great job in honoring those guys' experiences.”

             Interestingly, a number of the Marines with whom Efron and Hicks met had a variety of good luck charms that they had carried with them into battle. Hicks describes, “One sergeant took out the remnants of what was barely recognizable as a playing card, which he'd taken with him on multiple tours. Once he’d lost it, which disturbed him deeply, but in the most extraordinary circumstances he found it again, quite by chance. The way he felt about it was very moving.”

             “The Lucky One” is distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.