MATTHIAS SCHOENAERTS IS A WOMAN’S ROCK IN THE ROMANTIC EPIC “FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD”

Press release

 For actor Matthias Schoenaerts, playing the steadfast shepherd Gabriel Oak in the big-screen adaptation of “Far from the Madding Crowd” by Thomas Hardy was a profound experience. The 37-year-old Belgian says that the character helped him shape his personal life.

                Truly relatable even in 2015, the exuberant story of Victorian farmer Bathsheba Everdene (Carey Mulligan) starts out a simple country girl who has inherited her uncle’s farm, and becomes a fierce-willed, impulsive heiress who is faced with a myriad of life choices. She’s surrounded, and confounded, by intriguing suitors, one of them is  the down to earth farmer Gabriel Oak (Schoenaerts).

                “Oak represents values that I really value and admire in people,” begins Schoenaerts, who made his international breakthrough with the 2012 drama “Rust and Bone.” “Even though he suffers a lot of set backs and gets emotional beatings, he always stays on the path of truthfulness and righteousness. That is pretty rare.”

                Though Bathsheba Everdeen values her independence more than almost anything, her life is complicated by three very determined suitors who each seek her hand in marriage.  Her first proposal comes from the upstanding landowner Gabriel Oak, but she is too independent to consider it at the time.   “Oak is a difficult dramatic character,” notes director Thomas Vinterberg.  “Here is this guy who decides on this woman, yet he’s just sort of there for her, hanging out on the farm waiting for her to choose him, so he’s not really the prototype of an active male lead.  So what I was looking for in an actor was the essence of Gabriel’s innate strength and pride.”

                He found that quality in the rising Belgian actor Matthias Schoenaerts, who first riveted global audiences as a steroid-pumping cattle farmer in “Bullhead,” and then starred opposite Marion Cotillard in Jacques Audiard’s gritty romance “Rust and Bone,” for which he won the Cesar Award for Most Promising Actor.  He also played Eric Deeds in Michaël Roskam’s “The Drop” with Tom Hardy and the late James Gandolfini. 

                “Matthias is a man’s man and you can feel there is so much integrity in him,” says Vinterberg of Schoenaerts. “He’s a brilliant actor, he's very sexy, and he's amazing to work with.  As Oak, he is that rock in Bathsheba’s world, but then again, he also has a real vulnerability in his eyes.”  

                Schoenaerts was keen to work with Vinterberg, and loved the director’s reasons for revisiting Hardy in our times.  Says the actor: “I was curious as to why Thomas was so eager to make this film now,” he admits.  “He had a very simple and very reasonable answer.  He said ‘I think we need this kind of story right now because we live in very cynical times and we need a story that is about something else, and this is a beautiful one.’  His passion just radiated through his voice.” 

                The rough hewn physicality of Schoenaerts’ performance certainly seduced Carey Mulligan.  “Matthias is such a brilliant actor that he had the essence of Oak the moment he came on set,” she says.  “There is something astonishing about Matthias because he is so huge and domineering yet also very gentle.  He had that sturdiness and reliability you want in Oak – and yet you feel he looks at you and sees straight through you.” 

                “Far From the Madding Crowd” released by 20^th Century Fox and distributed by Warner Bros.

THE MUSES OF “ENTOURAGE”

Press release

Emily Ratajkowski, the breakout star of “Gone Girl” who played the mistress of Ben Affleck's character; and champion UFC fighter Ronda Rousey appear as themselves in Warner Bros. Pictures new comedy “Entourage.”

The film is the much-anticipated big-screen version of the award-winning hit HBO series, reuniting the hit show’s original cast, led by Kevin Connolly, Adrian Grenier, Kevin Dillon, Jerry Ferrara and Jeremy Piven.

Once again taking advantage of the theory that “everyone knows everyone in Hollywood,” “Entourage” director Doug Ellin, as he frequently has in the past, recruited actresses to play themselves opposite the fictional foursome, crafting make-believe relationships that seem strangely plausible.

Thus, real-life Emily Ratajkowski plays friend-of-Vincent-Chase (Grenier) Emily Ratajkowski, and MMA/UFC champion Ronda Rousey plays MMA/UFC champion Ronda Rousey. In her “backstory,” Rousey and Turtle (Ferrara) apparently had brief but memorable contact at Coachella—the fictional one of Ellin’s world—two years prior.

“Both women were great to work with,” Ellin says. “Emily is such a lovely person and a smart young lady, down to earth. Just a really great addition to the entourage.”

Ratajkowski is a model/actress quickly establishing herself as one of the most talked-about faces in fashion and film. Last year, she was seen in her first major movie role, playing Andie in “Gone Girl,” the David Fincher-directed adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s bestselling mystery novel. She shot to international fame in the summer of 2013 as the bombshell beauty at the center of Robin Thicke, Tip “T.I.” Harris and Pharrell Williams’ “Blurred Lines” music video, which garnered nearly 174 million views on YouTube.

Ronda Rousey truly enjoyed her turn as Ronda Rousey. “I played myself, and I happen to be an authority on myself, so I was obviously qualified.”

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

In the film, Rousey and Turtle have a somewhat volatile reunion following a misunderstanding, and an even more explosive meeting when she invites him to her place. “In the story, I’m always getting hit on by guys who are trying to make money off of me, or who are big meathead athletes, and I’m tired of them. Turtle seems like a good-looking, successful, normal guy who wants to hang out with me, but then I get the impression that he really is just trying to make money off of me, too, and that hurts my ego…which is not good for Turtle.”

“I’ve watched most of Ronda’s fights and was a fan long before she came on to the movie,” Ferrara says. “She’s very intense when she has to be, so I enjoyed seeing that armor come off a bit, and her personality come through. She has a lot of heart and takes her work very seriously, and is just a really talented, impressive person.”

Rousey took in all she could from the more seasoned actor. “I’ve only done action movies before, and I’m good with the whole run around/say one cool line/shoot something and punch that guy kind of thing. But I’m new to comedy, the walking-and-talking and the timing, and Jerry guided me through our scenes and made me feel more comfortable, especially in a romantic situation where I’m just not smooth. If I really like someone, I can become very guarded, but working with him helped me lighten up. Probably a good dating tip for my own life.”

In “Entourage,” movie star Vincent Chase (Grenier), together with his boys, Eric (Connolly), Turtle (Ferrara) and Johnny (Dillon), are back…and back in business with super agent-turned-studio head Ari Gold (Piven). Some of their ambitions have changed, but the bond between them remains strong as they navigate the capricious and often cutthroat world of Hollywood.

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

A FATHER SEARCHES FOR THREE MISSING SONS IN “THE WATER DIVINER”

Click here to read my review of the movie.

Press release

A sweeping drama of love and loss, hope and redemption that takes audiences from the scarred battlefield of Gallipoli to the arid Australian Outback to the teeming streets of Istanbul, “The Water Diviner” starring Russell Crowe will be shown exclusively at Ayala Malls Cinemas nationwide starting June 24.

Photo courtesy of RatPac Entertainment

In the film, Crowe plays Australian farmer Joshua Connor, who, in 1919, goes in search of his three missing sons, last known to have fought against the Turks in the bloody Battle of Gallipoli. Arriving in Istanbul, Connor is thrust into a vastly different world, where he encounters others who suffered their own losses in the conflict: Ayshe (Olga Kurylenko), a strikingly beautiful but guarded hotelier raising a child alone; her young, spirited son, Orhan (Dylan Georgiades), who finds a friend in Connor; and Major Hasan (Yilmaz Erdoğan), a Turkish officer who fought against Connor’s boys and may be this father’s only hope. With seemingly insurmountable obstacles in his path, Connor must travel across the battle-scarred Turkish landscape to find the truth… and his own peace.

The film also stars Jai Courtney (upcoming “Terminator Genisys”) and Isabel Lucas (“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”).

"One old chap managed to get here from Australia looking for his son's grave." That seemingly innocuous notation, found in a letter, became the catalyst for "The Water Diviner.”

The unidentified "old chap" evolved into the central character of Joshua Connor – a grief-stricken father who, alone, travels thousands of miles to find the bodies of the sons he let go off to war and bring them home to rest.

The enigmatic sentence about a devoted father's search for his son's remains had originally been discovered by screenwriter Andrew Anastasios while doing research for a documentary. Anastasios offers, "The line hit me like a thunderbolt; it posed so many tantalizing questions: Who was that father? What made him get on a boat and sail all the way to Turkey? What happened to his son? I showed it to my friend and co-writer Andrew Knight, and he agreed that we should try to tell this man's story. We researched for a year and a half and couldn't find out anything more about this mystery father, so we sat down and conceived his story."

Anastasios and Knight decided to imbue Joshua Connor with a special quality, making him a water diviner, someone who can discern where water might be hiding beneath even the most barren landscape. "We wanted him to have all the qualities we admire: resilience, compassion and courage," says Anastasios. "But we also wanted to add an unexpected dimension to the character that sets him apart; we wanted him to have a special gift that was both engaging and curious."

The filmmakers agree that practical applications are only a small part of Connor's abilities. Anastasios asserts, "The special connection Connor has is not just with the elements but with his sons. He is tied to them by love and by blood. The blood in his veins is the same as that in his sons' and he senses it in the same way he divines for water, the lifeblood of the earth. Call it gut instinct or parents' intuition…he can feel their presence."

Crowe concludes, "Intuition is powerful and it's real, and is something every single person uses at some point in their lives. I'm talking about the pure intuitive force that leads you in life to take a step in one direction or another. So it was no stretch for me to imagine that a man like Connor, given the depth of the bond he has with his kids, would get a physical sensation when he is looking for the bones of his children, like he does from water."

ADRIAN GRENIER PLAYS HOLLYWOOD “IT” BOY IN “ENTOURAGE”

Press material

Versatile actor Adrian Grenier is best-known for his starring role as Vincent Chase on “Entourage,” one of HBO’s most popular half-hour series in the network’s history, which ran for eight seasons and was syndicated in nearly two dozen markets worldwide.

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

He now reprises the iconic character in the new “Entourage” big-screen movie from Warner Bros. The film picks up where the series ended. Six days later, to be exact. Vince, having flown from Los Angeles to Paris in order to marry the woman of his dreams, is now on his honeymoon, alone. Well, not quite alone. Rather, he is cruising the Mediterranean on an enormous yacht with a couple hundred beauties in bikinis, minus his soon-to-be-ex-wife.

In order to reach their pal in his time of need (and to partake of the flowing champagne and other available vices), Eric (Kevin Connolly), Turtle (Jerry Ferrara) and Drama (Kevin Dillon) rush to his side. “It’s about loyalty, friendship and brotherhood,” director-writer Doug Ellin conveys. “These guys all take care of each other; that’s what matters the most. All the fancy cars and beautiful women, which we see plenty of in the movie, they all come second.”

“Vince happens to be a movie star, but, first and foremost, he’s a loyal friend,” cites Grenier. “He brought his buddies out to Hollywood to give them a taste of the good life he was given because of his rising stardom, and he’s shared it with them ever since.”

Ellin describes Vince as “a young guy with everything at his fingertips: talent, looks, and everybody loves him. Everyone wants to be him or be with him. He’s always brought his boys along and given them as much of that lifestyle as he can.”

Shortly after the arrival of his troops on the high seas, Vince takes a phone call from Ari (Jeremy Piven). No longer his, or anyone’s, agent, Ari presents his former star client with news, as well as a new opportunity: Ari has become head of a major movie studio, and his first order of business is to offer Vince the lead in the very first movie he will greenlight.

But Vince now has the impulse to do something different with his life, something he hasn’t done before: direct. “He’s at the height of his career and excited about taking the next step,” Grenier relates. “I think it was Doug’s way of making sure that the world is Vince’s oyster and that for him and, by association, his friends, anything is possible.”

Until six months later, after Vince has directed and starred in “Hyde.” But, like many first-time filmmakers, he’s hesitant to show his work...at least not until he gets a little more money to finish it, despite his promise to Ari not to go over budget.

Grenier explains, “I think it’s the natural instinct of a director to want to put the best product forward. Vince doesn’t want to show his movie to anyone before it’s done, because he doesn’t want to be judged on the work before it’s polished. In particular, he wants to make sure Ari’s happy, as the head of the studio. But mostly, Vince is an artist and as an artist, he just wants to get it right.”

“It’s like that dream where you’re walking into a room with no clothes on,” Kevin Connolly offers. “Showing a cut of something, as a director, you’re never more vulnerable. That’s not a comfortable place for Vince to be.”

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

HIGH-WIRE THRILLER “THE WALK” LAUNCHES NEW TRAILER

Press release

Columbia Pictures has just launched the new trailer for “The Walk,” a true story based on French high-wire artist Philippe Petit's book "To Reach the Clouds".

            Directed by Academy Award-winner Robert Zemeckis, “The Walk” stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the young dreamer who dared the impossible: an illegal wire walk between the World Trade Center towers. Last August 7, 2014 is the 40th anniversary of the astounding event, now being brought back to vivid life in the third act climax of the film.

            Twelve people have walked on the moon.  Only one has ever, or will ever, walk in the immense void between the World Trade Center towers.  Philippe Petit (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), guided by his real-life mentor, Papa Rudy (Ben Kingsley), is aided by an unlikely band of international recruits, who overcome long odds, betrayals, dissension and countless close calls to conceive and execute their mad plan. 

            Robert Zemeckis, the master director of such marvels as “Forrest Gump,” “Cast Away,” “Back to the Future,” “Polar Express” and “Flight,” again uses cutting edge technology in the service of an emotional, character-driven story.  With innovative photorealistic techniques and IMAX® 3D wizardry, “The Walk” is genuine big-screen cinema, a chance for moviegoers to viscerally experience the feeling of reaching the clouds. 

            It is also one of the more rare live-action films that is a PG-rated, all-audience entertainment for moviegoers 8 to 80 – and a true story to boot.  It is unlike anything audiences have seen before, a love letter to Paris and New York City in the 1970s, but most of all, to the Towers of the World Trade Center.

Opening across the Philippines in October 07, “The Walk” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.

“INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 3” SHINES A LIGHT ON `GODMOTHER OF HORROR'

Press release

While dialing up the chills, Columbia Pictures' new horror thriller “Insidious: Chapter 3” turns back the clock as it takes place years before the first two chapters which detailed the escalating haunting of the Lambert family. With the family’s fate resolved in “Insidious: Chapter 2,” director and screenwriter Leigh Whannell was keen to shine the spotlight on a constant in the tales: indomitable psychic Elise Rainier, portrayed by Lin Shaye.

Photo courtesy of Columbia Pictures

The legendary actress was recently honored for her contributions in the horror genre by being named the “Godmother of Horror” at last month's Wizard World Comic Con in Philadelphia. Besides reprising her role as gifted psychic Elise Rainier in “Insidious: Chapter 3,” Shaye also starred in more than 20 other horror films, including “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” “Snakes on a Plane” and “Ouija.”

Elise had been killed off as part of the struggle to save the Lamberts, but “I love the character and I wondered how I could bring her back,” says Whannell. “Dealing with ‘ghost Elise’ wasn’t the idea; I wanted her alive! People enjoyed the time-spanning storytelling that we advanced in the second movie, and I felt that would help me find a story that gives deeper meaning to Elise’s journey.

“I started to devise an origin story, a prequel set a few years before the first movie wherein concepts central to Insidious take shape, and where we could explore Elise’s background. Once I started writing this, I fell in love with the piece.”

Shaye was impressed at how Whannell’s script “gives you more details about the characters; in “Insidious: Chapter 3,” we learn more about Elise’s personal life. These ideas were exciting, because character and story are what matter to me.”

Producer Jason Blum enthuses that “when you see Lin playing Elise on-screen, you believe that she’s able to communicate with demons and ghosts. In most movies about the paranormal, it’s hard to make the character of the expert feel credible, but Lin is terrific at doing just that.”

Whannell says, “Lin is an actor whom you love having on the set, because she’s 100% committed at all times. When you’re a writer, it’s encouraging having an actor talk over your script so much with you.

“I had a lot of discussions with Lin while I was writing `Insidious: Chapter 3,' and I feel we’ve made her character even stronger than in the first two films – with a real range of emotions that she can express so well.”

Producer James Wan affirms, “Lin Shaye is the beating heart of these movies, and now the new movie is able to continue and expand upon the series’ legacy.”

“It’s a great new story that transpires in the same universe,” elaborates producer Oren Peli. “Leigh introduces a new family – and revisits some favorite characters from the previous chapters, like Elise. We get to see how she evolved to be the Elise audiences got to know and love in the first two Insidious chapters – the woman who is selflessly willing to sacrifice herself to fight demonic forces for a family’s sake.”

Shaye concludes, “I hear all the time from people who love these movies, so I was aware of the expectations. The challenge was to not repeat ourselves; Elise has different dilemmas in `Insidious: Chapter 3,' and Leigh gave me a lot to work with and to play. Elements of this new story, what this family faces down and what Elise does, will touch people in a very human way.”

“Insidious: Chapter 3” has been given a Parental Guidance (PG) rating by the MTRCB. This movie contains scenes with several scary and horrifying images, blasting sounds, and themes (a child communicating with the dead, dealing with the supernatural, etc.) that may be disturbing for very young viewers. Parental guidance and discretion is strictly advised.

“Insidious: Chapter 3” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.

'Just The Way You Are' Official Teaser Trailer Reveal

After the success of their trending TV series Forevermore, Liza Soberano and Enrique Gil once again will continue to to bring the "kilig-moments" to the big screen in this new rom-com based on an online story, The Bet.

Also starring Tonton Gutierrez and Sunshine Cruz. Released and distributed by Star Cinema which will open in cinemas on June 17. Directed by Theodore Borborol. Later, there will be a presscon and I am going to attend. If you have relevant questions about the movie, comment here and don't forget to follow this blog for more trailer releases.