007 Celebrates 50 years on film with “GLOBAL JAMES BOND DAY” October 5

LOS ANGELES, Calif., August 29, 2012 – In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the James Bond film franchise on the anniversary of “Dr. No,” which enjoyed its world film premiere in London on October 5, 1962, and in anticipation of the worldwide release of the 23rd James Bond adventure “Skyfall,” Albert R. Broccoli’s EON Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment announced today that October 5, 2012 will be Global James Bond Day, a day-long series of events for Bond fans around the world.

A new feature documentary from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, Columbia Pictures, Passion Pictures and Red Box Films, “Everything or Nothing: The Untold Story of 007,” will be also be unveiled, country-specific details to follow. Directed by Stevan Riley (“Fire In Babylon”), “Everything or Nothing” focuses on three men with a shared dream – Bond producers Albert R. Broccoli, Harry Saltzman and author Ian Fleming. It’s the thrilling and inspiring narrative behind the longest running film franchise in cinema history which began in 1962.

Further worldwide events celebrating Bond’s golden anniversary include a global online and live auction charity event of 50 lots to benefit twelve charitable institutions organized by Christie´s in London (full details at www.christies.com/bond), a global survey to discover the favorite Bond film by country, a film retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, a “Music of Bond” night in Los Angeles hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and an exhibition, “Designing 007: 50 Years of Bond Style,” at TIFF in Toronto.

Meet the guys of “PARANORMAN” | Voice cast led by Casey Affleck & Christopher Mintz-Plasse

Leading the talented voice cast of Focus Features' new 3D animated comedy “ParaNorman” are Kodi Smit-McPhee (“Let Me In”), Casey Affleck (“Ocean's Thirteen”) and Christopher Mintz-Plasse (“Superbad”). The acclaimed family film will be shown exclusively at Ayala Malls Cinemas starting Sept. 5.

The voice of the film’s 11-year-old hero, Norman Babcock, is provided by Kodi Smit-McPhee, a young Australian actor who in a brief few years has made a big name for himself. While Norman talks to ghosts in order to rid his town of zombies and stop a witch's curse, the film is really a comedy, which was perfect for Smit-McPhee, whose work in recent years has been in fairly dark films. As he told Entertainment Weekly, “my favorite genre is comedy…It’s pretty ironic and funny that I always get these kind of dramatic…movies.”

Even as “ParaNorman's” scary premise is actually just scary fun, Smit-McPhee’s more dramatic roles helped convince the filmmakers that he was the right actor for the job. Director Sam Fell acknowledged that it was “difficult to find someone young who has range and sensitivity. But we’d seen Kodi Smit-McPhee’s astonishing performance in `The Road,' and we felt that he could carry this movie so that audiences would invest in this boy’s journey.”

LEGO® to hit the big screen, 3D! | Voice cast revealed!

Will Arnett, Elizabeth Banks (Hunger Games, People Like Us), Chris Pratt and Morgan Freeman will lend their vocal talents to the LEGO® world, starring as characters in the upcoming original 3D animated LEGO feature, currently in production, from Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures.

The film, the first-ever full length theatrical LEGO movie, follows Emmet, an ordinary, rules-following, perfectly average LEGO minifigure who is mistakenly identified as the most extraordinary person and the key to saving the world. He is drafted into a fellowship of strangers on an epic quest to stop an evil tyrant, a journey for which Emmet is hopelessly and hilariously underprepared.

Chris Pratt (“Moneyball”) stars as Emmet. Oscar® winner Morgan Freeman (“Million Dollar Baby”) and Elizabeth Banks (Emmy nominee for “30 Rock”), will star as two of Emmet’s fellow travelers: Vitruvius, an old mystic; and tough-as-nails Lucy, who mistakes Emmet for the savior of the world and guides him on his quest. She also calls upon the mysterious Batman, a LEGO® minifigure voiced by Will Arnett (Emmy nominee, “30 Rock”), with whom she shares a history.

ModelSpotting: WILL GRANT | The drop dead boy-next-door

Will Grant stands 5'9 and is a dedicated fitness trainer based in Orlando, Florida.

In his own words: "I stay busy with training my clients in the gym, training myself and I also having to travel for photoshoots and commercials. I've also recently gotten into natural bodybuilding and men's physique competitions."

Well, enough said if you ask me. His body says it all. Just check him out.

ModelSpotting: BO ROBERTS 02 | For Todd Sanfield underwear

I already featured Bo Roberts before and boy did it get a lot of hits. I can't blame my followers, I do feature the beauty of the male body and proudly so as I believe that they are beautiful specimens. As a photographer, I appreciate nakedness differently. The arches, shadows and emotions that can be captured is limitless and to have a model like Bo Roberts would be a dream.

ModelSpotting: BO ROBERTS | Graces DNA Magazine with a hot spread! Brace yourselves

Just check out this latest spread showcasing the latest Todd Sanfield underwear collection.

MADONNA'S directorial debut film “W.E.” opens soon in Manila

With The Weinstein Company’s romantic drama “W.E.,” Madonna, one of the world's most famous women, tries to clean up the stained image of another famous American, Wallis Simpson — "that woman" for whom King Edward VIII gave up his throne in 1936, causing a crisis unprecedented in British history.

Simpson has been dead for nearly 26 years; her ex-king husband, the Duke of Windsor, has been gone for nearly 40. Neither had a good end but their story lives on as one of the most reproduced of royal sagas on stage and screen for most of the 20th century.

Now, 75 years after the abdication crisis, Madonna's movie, “W.E.” helps shift the image of Simpson from the mannish-but-chic party crasher at the palace to a more ambivalent figure, by turns despised, traduced, envied and pitied even by her critics.

“W.E.” starts in the year 1998, when Manhattan is abuzz with anticipation about the upcoming auction of the estate of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. But the auction is far more than a diversion for Wally Winthrop (Abbie Cornish), a transplanted Southerner trapped in an unhappy and abusive marriage. Transfixed by the exquisite artifacts of the Windsors' lives, Wally becomes obsessed with the love story of Wallis Simpson (Andrea Riseborough), the chic, charismatic American who captured the heart of King Edward VIII (James D'Arcy). As she learns more about the sacrifices Wallis made in choosing to be with Edward, Wally finds the courage to follow her own heart and create her own happiness.

Direk BRILLANTE MENDOZA talks about The Making of CAPTIVE | A historical Filipino masterpiece indeed

Captive is about self-preservation, about survival in the face of hardships and situations beyond one’s control.

THE MAKING OF "CAPTIVE"

The events depicted in Captive are based on the hostage crisis situations that have taken place in the Philippines, such as the 2001 Dos Palmas kidnappings in Palawan and other abductions by the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) and similar separatist organizations. 

Official reports vary, but during the course of a year or so, there were numerous raids and more than 100 people were kidnapped and held captive for ransom in various places. Dozens of hostages, soldiers and abductors were killed during the whole ordeal. 

For Captive, I treated the whole film as a single real event. The script was based on my intensive research on certain kidnapping events and where they actually happened, and the testimonies of survivors, captors, the military and others who witnessed and/or were part of the crisis. 

About 25 percent of the film consists of fictional elements; mostly characters and scenes that I felt were necessary for enhancement and dramatization purposes. 

The overall journey in Captive is similar to the trail followed in the Dos Palmas kidnappings. The film begins with the abduction of a group of people from a resort, which I tried to depict as faithfully as it happened in Palawan. The hostages are transported in a crowded boat to the island of Basilan in southern Mindanao, crossing hundreds of kilometers of the Sulu Sea for several days. 

We did not shoot in Palawan, Lamitan, Basilan or any other part of Mindanao, where the kidnappings and the subsequent events actually happened, mainly for logistics and security reasons. 

For the Dos Palmas opening sequence, we looked for a similar coastal resort near Calatagan, Batangas, a province in southern Luzon, about a thousand kilometers north of Palawan. 

For the town of Lamitan, where a violent siege results from a botched-up negotiation between the military and the ASG, we shot the scenes inside a military camp in Tanay, Rizal, and several kilometers east of Metro Manila. 

Horror creeps in on August 29! | Be prepared to scream "AMOROSA"

A new kind of horror story for the big screen!

When Corazon: Ang Unang Aswang hit theaters earlier this year, it was billed as a Skylight Films production distributed by Star Cinema. People were puzzled. They were familiar with the latter, but the former was alien to them. So at the time, the question on their minds was, “What is Skylight Films?”

According to Star Cinema’s Enrico Santos, Skylight Films is the newest unit in ABS-CBN Films. It was established sometime last year, but only started actively making movies this year. “It is the network’s ‘maindie’ or ‘mainstream-indie’ film unit. It’s not a label of Star Cinema. We don’t do the kinds of movies that Star Cinema makes, like yung mga family dramas. Ours have more edge. They’re not as experimental as the indie films made for Cinemalaya, but they’re indie pa rin, although we do try to cater to and entertain mainstream sensibilities.”

Enrico says Skylight Films projects are indie in the sense that they use the same equipment indie filmmakers use. “Actually, we were one of the first mainstream groups to employ digital equipment. Because of that, the directors we work with are free from things like using expensive film stock.” Also, they experiment with new filmmaking techniques, like innovations in color grading, and also find new ways to distribute and promote their movies.

The Grand Press Conference

World-renowned Filipino director BRILLANTE MENDOZA surprises anew with Palawan kidnapping adaptation "CAPTIVE"

The story of Captive is adapted from the Dos Palmas kidnapping of two US missionaries by the Abu Sayyaf Group in 2001.

On 27 May 2001, members of the Abu Sayyaf Group abduct 20 local and foreign tourists from the Dos Palmas resort in Palawan and transport them via a fishing boat across the Sulu Sea to the island of Basilan. On the boat, the ASG demand ransom from the hostages. One of the hostages arranges an easy transfer of the ransom to a bank in Zamboanga, the reason why the group makes a stopover in a Lamitan City hospital en route to their hideout in the mountains. A bullet mistakenly shot by one of the ASG leaders at a passing military truck triggers a military assault on the hospital that lasts the whole day the next day. Amid the firing, three hostages are freed after what is implied as payment of ransom. Four more hostages are taken from the hospital staff when the group leaves, even if the kidnappers release three others with orders to arrange ransom for their loved ones whom the kidnappers are taking with them in the mountains. Two are left behind after being wounded from ambush assault by the militia. 

Meet the hilarious characters of “HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA” | Voiced by Adam Sandler, Selena Gomez, CeeLo Green et al!

Meet the owners and guests of “Hotel Transylvania” – Dracula’s lavish five-stake resort, where monsters and their families can live it up, free to be the monsters they are without humans to bother them.

Dracula (Adam Sandler). All of the qualities that make the Prince of Darkness the indisputable leader of monsters—his strength dominance charisma and perhaps over-controlling nature-—also happen to make him an excellent hotel manager. Problem is, where his daughter Mavis is concerned, he’s a softy. Fearful for his daughter’s safety, he’s kept her in the sanctuary of his hotel her entire life, away from the torch-wielding humans he remembers so well. But now, on the eve of her 118th birthday, he must keep a promise he made to let her see the world for the first time.

Mavis (Selena Gomez) is totally pampered by her father; however, she is headstrong and smart, and in many ways, a typical 118-year-old teenage girl. She’s grown slightly bored with the domain of her childhood—she has lived within her father’s hotel and its grounds all her life—and she longs to travel, experience life and see the world. Now, she’s met a newcomer who could make that a real possibility: but should she leave and risk breaking her father’s heart, or remain, and break her own?

MILLA JOVOVICH'S Alice gets unchained in “RESIDENT EVIL: RETRIBUTION”

As always, the central figure in the gritty and gripping fifth “Resident Evil” movie “Resident Evil: Retribution” is Alice, played once again with implacable ferocity by Milla Jovovich.

“Milla is a huge factor in the success of the films,” says producer Jeremy Bolt. “One of the things that makes Resident Evil interesting is that we present a woman as a convincing action hero. She’s tough as hell. She’s a leader; she’s determined. If anybody’s going to beat the evil corporation Umbrella, it’s Alice.”

Alice has evolved with each chapter of the ongoing saga, transforming from naïve amnesiac to superhumanly gifted warrior and, now, a battered foot soldier in the ongoing war against the ultimate evil. After playing the character for a decade, Jovovich has come to know her more intimately and care more deeply about her action-hero alter ego.

“Doing this series has been such an adventure,” the actress says. “It’s always amazing to come back to this incredible, fantastical, magical world and to Alice. I know her so well now. I know how she will react, what she will and won’t do. She’s become a huge part of my life, and as I grow, she grows. I’m always excited to see where she’s going next.”

Animated comedy thriller “PARANORMAN” | Showing September 5

The year's most acclaimed animated feature and considered a virtual shoo-in for the 2013 Academy Awards, Focus Features' new comedy thriller “ParaNorman” will be shown exclusively at Ayala Malls Cinemas (Glorietta 4, Greenbelt 3, Trinoma, Market! Market!, Alabang Town Center) starting Sept. 5.

Garnering an excellent 87% “fresh” rating at Rotten Tomatoes, “ParaNorman” is described by critics as “beautifully animated and solidly scripted...and will entertain (and frighten) older children while providing surprisingly thoughtful fare for their parents.”

Following the Academy Award-nominated “Coraline,” “ParaNorman” is the second stop-motion animated feature to be made at LAIKA Studios in 3D, unifying the two stunning art forms to tell an all-new frightfully funny, magically emotional, and hilariously spooky story.

When a small town comes under siege by zombies, who can it call? “Norman!”

How true? | KATY PERRY rejects $20 million ‘American Idol’ offer?

Hollywood Life has reported this week that our teenage dream Katy Perry supposedly turned down a $20 million deal to judge the 12th season of ‘American Idol!’ Their source informed HollywoodLife.com that Perry has turned down the invitation — a gig that would have sitting alongside Mariah Carey. Idol was said to have pursued Katy for weeks, determined to get her to sign on for one season of the hit reality series. The offer started at $18 million, but the show a couple of million — $20 million, sources close to the production tell TMZ. 

Sadly, Katy apparently made it clear that it was not about the money. Her schedule make it impossible to appear on the show weekly, and that Katy simply was not interested. 

HollywoodLife.com's source says, “Katy felt that judging on Idol is like appearing on DWTS, meaning your career is over or in a desperate need of a [overhaul] and Katy believes her career is only going up and she is strictly focused on her music. [Katy] also declined to appear on her own show for [the CW], so she doesn’t want to do anything else but new music and a new album.” And news of Katy’s offer may hurt Idol producers. 

The source continued, “All potential judges that have been mentioned are still in contention, but Idol put themselves in a hole as everyone wants way more money then they may even deserve since people like Katy have been offered 20 million.”

ModelSpotting: THOM EVANS | The F.Tape "Obsession" series

British model and ex rugby player Thom Evans is simply too much to handle. In case you still have not seen his latest pictorials, well you're in for a treat. Just check out these oh so friggin' hot photos by Daniel Jaems for the F.Tape “Obsession” series.

Rugby star THOM EVANS | On the cover of Attitude magazine

RACHEL MCADAMS | Says goodbye to sweet roles and plays a manipulative bitch in thriller "PASSION"

The Vow star Rachel McAdams is back with a new and exciting role where she gets to play the bad guy this time! Ooohhh... I can't wait! :o)

The first batch of images from Brian De Palma‘s Passion have been released. The film stars Rachel McAdams and Noomi Rapace in this intriguing story of seduction and manipulation, of dominance and servitude.

Synopsis:

An erotic thriller in the tradition of “Dressed To Kill” and “Basic Instinct”, Brian de Palma’s PASSION tells the story of a deadly power struggle between two women in the dog-eat-dog world of international business. Christine possesses the natural elegance and casual ease associated with one who has a healthy relationship with money and power. Innocent, lovely and easily exploited, her admiring protégé Isabelle is full of cutting-edge ideas that Christine has no qualms about stealing. They’re on the same team, after all… Christine takes pleasure in exercising control over the younger woman, leading her one step at a time ever deeper into a game of seduction and manipulation, dominance and humiliation. But when Isabelle falls into bed with one of Christine’s lovers, war breaks out. On the night of the murder, Isabelle is at the ballet, while Christine receives an invitation to seduction. From whom? Christine loves surprises. Naked she goes to meet the mystery lover waiting in her bedroom…

Here are the first batch of images from the film:

CELINE DION | A girl gone wild in V Magazine and turns into a Hot Momma!

Oh dear! Celine Dion must've taken some crazy pills! But hey, it worked well for her and boy does she look good! V Magazine features the singing siren in a racy but entertaining spread adorned with a bunny mask and stuffed-animal-studded trousers. 

Whew! Now here's a Celine we've never seen before!

EMMA WATSON | Looks ravishing for T Magazine! Oh, Her-MY!-OH!ne Granger!

Emma Watson now 22 yrs. old lends her gorgeous lady looks to T Magazine and oh how beautiful she looks now! Little Hermione turned out to be one hot lady and fashion icon magazines are running after her.

Here's a portion of the article: 

Emma Watson, the onetime co-star of the most successful movie franchise ever, is a very grateful and a very lucky person. How do I know that? Because I sat down with the 22-year-old in a gastropub in a trendy neighborhood of North London, and in the course of an hour’s conversation she said ‘‘grateful’’ five times and ‘‘lucky’’ eight. True, of those five ‘‘grateful’’s two were of the ‘‘ungrateful’’ form — yet these were embedded in clauses like ‘‘I felt guilty because I felt like that meant I was ungrateful. . . .’’ 

So, as you can see, Watson is a young woman who wants it put firmly on the record that she understands human lives are shaken up in the snow globe of uncertainty, and that simply because she’s ended up being covered in golden flakes, she doesn’t take it as her due, oh, no. 

Pale skinned, serious of mien, with tiny little Meissen china ears furled tightly against her tiny little Meissen china head, her brown hair scraped back into a bunch, her meager form lost in a baggy white T-shirt, Watson still looks younger than she is. She’s neat-featured; all the headlines of her face — eyes, brows, cheekbones — seem as if underlined. And it’s quite possible that this rather serious emphasis, all those years ago, alerted the casting director that this 9-year-old girl should play Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter movies, rather than the umpteen thousand others who were gagging, swooning, dying to do so. Oh, and then there’s her mouth, which, in mid-moue, has a top lip that looks sharp enough to give you a paper cut.

If you wish to read the entire feature, visit NYTimes.com. Photography: Alasdair McLellan

  

New film on twisters and storm chasers BLACK SKY | Stars RICHARD ARMITAGE & SARAH WAYNE CALLIES

BURBANK, CA, August 22, 2012 – Principal photography is underway on New Line Cinema’s tornado disaster film, “Black Sky.” Steven Quale (“Final Destination 5”) is directing the film, which is being produced by Todd Garner (“Knight and Day”).

The film stars Richard Armitage (“Captain America: The First Avenger,” upcoming “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”), Sarah Wayne Callies (TV’s “The Walking Dead”), Matt Walsh (“Ted”), Nathan Kress (TV’s “iCarly”), Arlen Escarpeta (“Final Destination 5”), Jon Reep (“Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay”) and Jeremy Sumpter (“Soul Surfer,” TV’s “Friday Night Lights”).

In the span of a single day, the town of Silverton is ravaged by an unprecedented onslaught of tornadoes. The entire town is at the mercy of the erratic and deadly cyclones, even as storm trackers predict the worst is yet to come. Most people seek shelter, while others run towards the vortex, testing how far a storm chaser will go for that once-in-a-lifetime shot.

ModelSpotting: RYAN TERRY | Mister International and Fitness Model

Ryan Terry won Mister International in 2010. He is also presently one of the most in demand fitness models and brand ambassador for numerous nutrition products.

He started out as a body builder, then shifted to a more athletic and commercial look which won him the said endorsements. And boy did it pay off.

He doesn't only have a drop dead unbelievable beautiful body, but he also has a gorgeous sexy angelic face that will just leave you marinating in your own.... Uhm, nevermind. :o) 

Just check and see if you don't go running after your own imagination spiraling out of control. :o)

ModelSpotting: DANNY MEERMAN | Fitness model

Danny Meerman is a model who is mostly featured in Fitness articles and shoots. He's also been featured in a soda commercial and on the cover of Men's Health.

Well, I believe he can appear on any magazine cover and he'd be something hard not to look at. 

What do you think? Check him out!