The pandemic caused a record surge in weddings and one couple’s struggle to reschedule their wedding three times and ultimately have a surprise wedding is now a major feature film titled The Wedding Hustler. Chris and Hillary Soriano featured their actual wedding in the upcoming Romantic Comedy to show the chaos in fighting for love in a post-pandemic world. The movie hits theaters this weekend at select SM Cinemas. Both Chris and Hillary are also starring in the movie to showcase a realness to how difficult it was planning a wedding in a pandemic. The movie is distributed by 1091 Pictures (a Sony company) and Prine and written, directed, produced by Chris and Hillary.
Netflix’s “Bling Empire” Star, Kane Lim Executive Produced and acted in the film alongside Chris and Hillary. Chris said, “They say planning a wedding is one of the most stressful things in someone’s life, and It’s so hard to plan when every venue and caterer is taken, and so I wanted to show that if I could put on a surprise wedding in this pandemic and figure out all the stressful planning on my own, maybe it will inspire other couples to deal with the stress of planning a wedding too.” The movie was filmed throughout San Diego and is now showing internationally.
“The Wedding Hustler” is about a couple who is unable to pursue their wedding due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The groom decides to create a surprise wedding for his fiance with the help of the Wedding Hustler, played by Christine Chang, who is an actual wedding planner. The movie also has international Filipina Actress, Heart Evangelisa as Bling Empire’s Kane Lim’s “bestie” in the movie.
In “Empire of Light,” Mendes has created two characters, Hilary and Stephen, played by Academy Award® winner Olivia Colman (The Favourite, The Lost Daughter) and rising star Micheal Ward. Mendes has woven them into a story exploring some of the ties that bring us together – the music, the movies, and the makeshift families that get us through.
At the beginning of the story, Hilary, played by Olivia Colman, has come out of a mental health episode that has put her on medication. Hilary is a woman living with mental illness, and together, Mendes and Colman bring her to life with sensitivity, nuance, gentleness, and complexity. “Sam is so emotionally engaged,” says Colman. “He understands what kindness is and that it is needed and what she’s going through is not her fault.”
Simultaneously, Ward’s character Stephen must walk through a racist world – but keeps true to himself as he finds an unlikely connection with Hilary, and with the cinema itself. “He’s been rejected by universities and he’s at a crossroads and trying to find himself,” says Ward. “When something like that is taken away from you, you have to find something else that fulfills you. He loves people, loves to connect with music and movies, and he refuses to allow an oppressive society to define who he is.”
“Empire of Light” reunites Mendes with one of his most important collaborators: director of photography Roger Deakins (1917, Blade Runner 2049, Skyfall, The Shawshank Redemption). Deakins also earned his latest Academy Award nomination for this film, making it his 16th-time Oscar®-nomination and with previous wins in cinematography for his works in (Blade Runner 2049, 1917). A career-long user of ARRI cameras, Deakins again relied on Alexa large format cameras and its Signature Prime lenses, but with a key difference from his experience in filming 1917. “On 1917, we basically used one lens, because that was the whole concept of doing the film from one perspective. On this film, we’ve used a wider range of lenses – 35, 40, 47, in that range,” shared Deakins.
Today, the art of film projection has largely passed to digital, Toby Jones brings to life a character of Norman that represents an important part of film history – a projectionist, a character that is part of a time when films were projected by a skilled professional using two machines, with celluloid passing by an arclight, watching for secret signals to switch reels. Because Norman has been projecting films for decades, it was necessary for Jones to master the art. “There’s an element of timing in it, as you switch between projectors, and of careful manipulation – how you hook up the celluloid as it passes through the projector,” shares Jones.
Continues Mendes, ”People talk a lot about shooting on film dying, but for me, the big loss is film projection. The projectionist gives the movie to the audience, and it’s that sense that even if there’s only one person out there in the dark, they know there’s someone up there showing them the film, giving it to them. You talk to the projectionists and for them, they are part of the filmmaker’s world. They see themselves as the last link in the chain.”
“In the middle of lockdown there was a racial reckoning in the world. We were left alone to contemplate how our own racial politics had been formed, and whether we had fallen down in our attempts to make sure the world was evolving. When I wrote the movie there was also another common obsession: we were all worried whether the cinema was going to die, along with live performances. So, all of those things have gone into this movie, and in that regard, it’s quite raw,” Mendes says.
Watch out for more exciting films to be included in the A-LIST SERIES, follow Ayala Malls Cinemas’ social media pages on Facebook and Instagram for updates.
This March, Michael B. Jordan is back in the boxing ring inCreed III, where his character Adonis “Donnie” Creed has to face a new foe that’s tied to his past. Watch the trailer for Creed III below:
Before the new movie arrives on the big screen this week, here are a few facts about Creed III that you might want to know about!
1. Adonis Creed will have to fight a childhood friend.
As revealed in the trailer, the third film follows Adonis Creed as he reconnects with his childhood friend, the former boxing prodigy Damian– played by Jonathan Majors– who just got out of prison. But soon, Damian becomes uncontrollable and becomes a force to be reckoned with in the boxing ring.
With Damian threatening to go for everything that he has, Adonis must face the friend from his past and settle their scores in a high-stakes boxing match.
“Jonathan Majors is incredible,” Jordan shared about his co-star via Collider. “We’re very blessed and lucky to have him be a part of this story. For me, as a director, just to have that running mate and partner made all the difference in the world. He’s extremely talented. The world is finding out, daily, how incredible this man is and the work that he does is finally getting the props that it’s due.”
2. Michael B. Jordan makes his directorial debut with Creed III.
While the first Creed film was directed by Black Panther’s Ryan Coogler and the first sequel by Steven Caple Jr. who will also helm this year’s Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, the third installment to the franchise will now be directed by its lead star Michael B. Jordan.
“Talking with Denzel [Washington] and Bradley Cooper and others who have directed themselves, they told me you have to find your groove and your pace with your first AD and actors,” Michael B. Jordan shared in an interview with Empire. “But it’s also like having a superpower: within your performance, you can also direct. It saves some time in some areas, because you get a chance to self-correct in the moment. So that’s a liberating experience to have. It became fun after a while.”
3. Creed III was influenced by the anime Hajime No Ippo.
Jordan revealed that as the director of the latest Creed film, he pulled some inspiration from anime, specifically the popular boxing anime Hajime No Ippo.
“With boxing anime like Hajime no Ippo, I really love the inner dialogue of what’s going on and happening in the ring from the characters,” Jordan revealed in an interview with Total Film.
“I had a huge Japanese anime influence on a lot of my fights. I’m an anime nerd,” the director-slash-actor also shared during his interview on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.
4. Rocky will not return for the third movie.
The Creed franchise branched off from the iconic Rocky films, but while the legendary movie boxer has been with Donnie’s side in the first two films, Sylvester Stallone has confirmed that he will not return for its third installment.
“That’s a regretful situation because I know what it could have been. It was taken in a direction that is quite different than I would’ve taken it,” Stallone told The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s a different philosophy — Irwin Winkler’s and Michael B. Jordan’s. I wish them well, but I’m much more of a sentimentalist. I like my heroes getting beat up, but I just don’t want them going into that dark space. I just feel people have enough darkness.”
5. Jordan on the importance of inclusivity in the film.
While Rocky is not in the third film, we will see Tessa Thompson reprise her role as Bianca, further expanding on the story of Bianca and Adonis as they raise their deaf daughter Amara, played by Mila Davis-Kent, amidst the challenges in Creed’s career.
In a press conference, Michael B. Jordan talked about representation in the franchise through these characters: “Naturally, it was the right evolution of the Creed family. Dealing with ASL and Bianca’s character, since Creed I, and then having that evolve into her becoming a mother and the possibility of our child being hard of hearing, and then ultimately ending up being deaf, and seeing how that family evolves and grows, and how they deal with that obstacle and turn it into a superpower.
“It’s a community of people that doesn’t really get representation as much as they should, and we used this as opportunity to do that. Mila Davis-Kent is amazing. She’s deaf and learning ASL, and normalizing it was a really big deal for us. Hopefully, in watching this movie, you feel that,” the actor added.
– Creed III is coming to cinemas this Wednesday, March 1, 2023. Book your seats in advance and buy your tickets here.
In the film “Creed III”, after dominating the boxing world, Adonis Creed (Jordan) has been thriving in both his career and family life. When a childhood friend and former boxing prodigy, Damian (Majors), resurfaces after serving a long sentence in prison, he is eager to prove that he deserves his shot in the ring. The face-off between former friends is more than just a fight. To settle the score, Adonis must put his future on the line to battle Damian – a fighter who has nothing to lose.
Jonathan Majors, who stars as Damian, observes, “As an actor approaching it, I looked at both characters’ journeys and where they were going. Michael was so honest and exciting as a filmmaker about what he wanted to do with the story, that he wanted to do something different from the canonical themes established already. But at the same time, he wanted to honor the legacy of ‘Rocky’ and the previous ‘Creed’ films. Through conversations with Michael, I knew this would be a story about two men and their dreams colliding. In some ways, ‘Creed III’ feels more intimate than others in this franchise, while the saga of it is truly epic.”
“When people see the film, they’ll see that this is actually two people who once loved each other, seemingly trying to reconnect, but one overplays the hand,” adds Majors. Looking back at their history, he notes, “Because of the society they were in, because of the actions that they took, Dame ended up having to deal with the penal system and go to prison. While in there, he held onto the brotherly love between him and Donnie. What had kept them both afloat when they were in the midst of poverty, of foster care, of the streets, was that dream they shared of boxing; that was their ticket.
“Damian, the stronger and older fighter teaching the younger boxer who was like his younger brother how to fight—and ultimately how to survive—never left him,” Majors continues. “In prison, Dame keeps his bond with Adonis by watching him work and watching him win, you know, and essentially living the dream that they both had. But that also leads to an adversarial spirit, which breeds resentment.”
“Talking about Mike as a director, I’ve never felt more taken care of as far as the world-building of the film, the understanding of the character I was playing,” shares Majors. “It’s never been so concrete in the best way. We worked in such a way where it was a real collaboration. He trusted, for whatever reason, that I was going to do the job, and when you feel that trust, you want to deliver. And as an actor, it amazed me how our chemistry worked.”
Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures Presents A Chartoff-Winkler Production, “Creed III” is distributed internationally by Warner Bros. Pictures including the Philippines.
Join the conversation online and use the hashtag #Creed3
Scott Beck and Bryan Woods previously triumphed as part of the writing team of A Quiet Place, which took audiences by storm in 2018. Now, the tandem writes and directs Columbia Pictures’ new futuristic action-thriller 65, starring Adam Driver.
Watch spot from 65below:
“Horror, suspense, action, adventure – that’s the sweet spot for us,” says Beck. “And what we love even more is to combine genre with a heartbeat – characters you really love.”
“The stories we love are always cinematic,” adds Woods. “It’s about the experience of what a movie brings – the visuals, the performances, the music, the marriage of all of these different capacities.”
Adam Driver and Ariana Greenblatt star in 65.
In 65, Adam Driver plays Mills, an interstellar pilot transporting a large group of passengers through space, when an accident kills all of his passengers but one – a young girl named Koa, played by Ariana Greenblatt. What Mills and Koa don’t know is that the planet they have landed on is our own Earth – 65 million years ago. As they begin their epic journey toward their only means of escape, they are hunted by vicious packs of dinosaurs that stalk them across a dangerous landscape.
Adam Driver stars in 65.
“The 12-year-olds in us always wanted to write a dinosaur film,” says Beck. “True human emotions are coming through the screen in the most powerful way throughout these set pieces.”
“For us, writing and directing are the same thing – it’s all storytelling,” says Woods.
Paradoxically, Beck says, it’s because they are both writing and directing that they are less bound by their own screenplay. “As a director, you can open up to any good idea on set, whether it’s from your DP or your VFX Supervisor or one of your actors,” says Beck. “You can mix it up, right up in the last moment when you’re ready to call ‘action.’”
“It’s about all the things cinema does best – visuals, sound, music, performance. We’re very inspired by silent filmmaking, and leaning on those basic principles of cinema – using these minimalist tools to tell a story on the most epic scale possible,” says Woods.
Adam Driver and Ariana Greenblatt star in 65.
The other classic lesson that Beck and Woods take is in building suspense. “We had a mantra: ‘it’s about what you don’t see,’” says Beck. “That was very instrumental on A Quiet Place, as it was instrumental as we grew up on movies like Jaws. The whole movie has been built on that mantra – the idea that there’s something dangerous and mysterious out there in this environment that Mills and Koa will have to engage with. We’re using sound design, we’re using the camera, we’re using production design to suggest what’s out there, and only at the right moment will we startle the audience.”
In cinemas across the Philippines starting March 8, 65 is distributed in the Philippines by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International. Connect with the hashtag #65Movie
Check out the official trailer below and watch the film exclusively in cinemas across the Philippines very soon.
About The Pope’s Exorcist
Inspired by the actual files of Father Gabriele Amorth, Chief Exorcist of the Vatican (Academy Award®-winner Russell Crowe), The Pope’s Exorcist follows Amorth as he investigates a young boy’s terrifying possession and ends up uncovering a centuries-old conspiracy the Vatican has desperately tried to keep hidden.
The film is directed by Julius Avery, screenplay by Michael Petroni and Evan Spiliotopoulos, screen story by Michael Petroni and R. Dean McCreary & Chester Hastings, based on the books “An Exorcist Tells His Story” and “An Exorcist: More Stories” by Fr. Gabriele Amorth.
The cast is led by Russell Crowe, Daniel Zovatto, Alex Essoe and Franco Nero
The Pope’s Exorcist is distributed in the Philippines by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International. Connect with the hashtag #ThePopesExorcist
Based on the play by Samuel D. Hunter, The Whale is the story of an extremely overweight gay man, whose condition has put his life at risk and he hopes to reconcile with his estranged daughter before he passes on. I haven’t seen the play myself, but watching director Darren Aronofsky’s film adaptation, I can already imagine it on stage. It is a story told within a single setting and the main character, Charlie, is so overweight that he struggles to move around his own home. I can even imagine that Charlie wouldn’t have to leave his couch (though a review I’ve read states that the play does involve Charlie getting up from the couch and showing the difficulties and challenges his massive frame sets before him). Even the narrative and the way by which it unfolds is very theatrical: characters come to visit Charlie and when they interact, more and more of the backstory is revealed – how Charlie got this big, why is his relationship with his daughter so fractured, and so on – and the information begins to collide and push us towards a climax.
I can imagine how powerful this would be on stage. Charlie’s story involves a past lover, his thoughts on religion and faith, his dedication as an English teacher, and his messy relationships with his ex-wife and daughter. It’s a powerful character study and it’s quite riveting to watch the different characters engage with each other. ‘The Whale’ has excellent actors on deck, which creates electricity in every scene. Brendan Fraser is incredible as Charlie. It’s a very physical role where every movement causes discomfort or pain. He is very aware of his condition – and the danger his body is in shutting down at any moment – and it fuels his need for some form of reconciliation with Ellie, played by Sadie Sink. Sink is a far better actor than she shows here in this film. She’s playing Ellie a little too big and too dramatic and isn’t giving us a range of emotions that she’s shown us she could do in her work in ‘Stranger Things.’ It’s not a nuanced performance that we’ve come to know of her. That nuance is delivered by Fraser, Hong Chau, and Samantha Morton.
Chau plays Liz, Charlie’s only friend and a nurse, whose tough exterior and overprotective attitude regarding her friend creates some very powerful warm moments. Chau balances the concern and the love that a best friend carries and we can see all the history of these two characters in the way she deals with Fraser. As the story unfolds and we understand the full extent of their relationship, we see the brilliant tapestry of emotions Hong Chau weaves into her character and it’s no wonder she was nominated for the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Samantha Morton, on the other hand, plays Mary, Charlie’s ex-wife. She’s got one long scene but the emotional peaks and valleys she crosses also betrays her character’s long history with Fraser’s Charlie. Things are said for the first time ever and it feels so spontaneous and real.
It’s the performances that really elevate the movie. Watching Fraser and Chau and Morton and Sink (and Ty Simpkins as Thomas, a missionary from the New Life Church) play out these pivotal moments in Charlie’s life at this period in time allows it to reach a crescendo that had me in tears. I was crying and I was shocked because there was so many things I was resisting against in this movie.
My first resistance was in the way by which Aronofsky captured Charlie’s obesity. There was no space for compassion in his camera work. We were made sure that we would see all of Charlie’s folds and layers. We were meant to ogle at every part of his body. There was no dignity at all and it felt very uncomfortable. The first few times was enough but the fact that the film does this throughout the 117 minute running time felt like we were meant to cast judgment on his obesity. As a play, there’s a distance that is created by the stage and the audience, but in film, the camera can get close and Aronofsky brings that camera really close and instead of being compassionate, I felt I was made to feel pity for Charlie.
And maybe the play had more of a story involved but Charlie has an obsession of “the truth” in the essays of his students of his persuasive writing class. There is a running thread about how there’s so much “b#llsh!t in the world right now” and “no one says the truth” but never does this adaptation ever explain his attachment to honesty. It’s such a powerful story point at the end but it never really feels connected to all the other parts of the film – not it’s underdeveloped thoughts on religion and faith, nor its discussion on grief and depression, nor on forgiveness and redemption – so when the finale hits, I’m crying because the performances are so strong but it feels sort of empty.
On the surface, ‘The Whale’ can seem like it broaches so many important themes such as mental health, grief, discrimination and homophobia, and so on and you can be brought in by the strength of the performances of the cast, but when it is all said and done, it never really gets to say anything conclusive about the themes it opens up. Fraser could win the Oscar, and he would deserve it, but it’s quite clear why the film was only nominated for its two performances and make-up and hairstyling; because those are the only aspects of the film that really stick.
My Rating:
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The Whale is now showing in cinemas nationwide. Buy your tickets here.
He states, “I had a clear vision of what I wanted the story to be, where I wanted the Creed family to go. The challenge of directing helped motivate me—I wanted to see if I had what it takes to act in and direct something that had been kicking around in my head for a long time. “Creed III” is very personal to me and, thankfully, all those things added up to the perfect situation for this movie.”
In the film, after dominating the boxing world, Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) has been thriving in both his career and family life. When a childhood friend and former boxing prodigy, Damian (Jonathan Majors), resurfaces after serving a long sentence in prison, he is eager to prove that he deserves his shot in the ring. The face-off between former friends is more than just a fight. To settle the score, Adonis must put his future on the line to battle Damian – a fighter who has nothing to lose.
“This is an origin story, a sequel, and a trilogy all in one,” says Jordan. “We’ve seen Adonis at a young age in the earlier films, but we never had the chance to really see how he was in and out of juvie, what really shaped him to be the Adonis Creed that we know, before he was adopted and brought into a life of wealth, opportunity and legacy. I felt it would result in a kind of identity crisis for him.”
Jordan feels a kinship with the character of Adonis. Before Jordan ascended to global superstar with his performance in Ryan Coogler’s “Black Panther,” it was the director’s 2015 “Creed” that introduced Jordan to the power of not just admiring, but being part of, a cinematic legacy.
“I grew up along with Adonis Creed,” says Jordan. “I created him with Ryan and got a chance to play him at pivotal times during my own personal life. So now, in the third film in the series, to be able to tell the story of where I am now, and where Adonis is on his journey, feels extremely personal.
“I was excited to see Adonis through to wherever he needed to go next,” Jordan adds. “How does he stay hungry? How does he find motivation now? The answer was, through a reminder about who he was before fame, and before he got everything that he dreamed of. As an actor and a director, that’s what I was most interested in exploring.”
Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures Presents A Chartoff-Winkler Production, “Creed III” is distributed internationally by Warner Bros. Pictures including the Philippines.
Join the conversation online and use the hashtag #Creed3
The character one-sheets spotlight all the major players in the new movie, from returning icons such as Courteney Cox and Hayden Panettiere to recent new favorites Jenna Ortega, Melissa Barrera, Jasmin Savoy Brown and Mason Gooding. There are also some brand new faces in the mix, including Samara Weaving and Tony Revolori.
Check out the posters below and watch Scream VI in cinemas across the Philippines starting March 8.
About Scream VI
Following the latest Ghostface killings, the four survivors leave Woodsboro behind and start a fresh chapter. In Scream VI, Melissa Barrera (“Sam Carpenter”), Jasmin Savoy Brown (“Mindy Meeks-Martin”), Mason Gooding (“Chad Meeks-Martin”), Jenna Ortega (“Tara Carpenter”), Hayden Panettiere (“Kirby Reed”) and Courteney Cox (“Gale Weathers”) return to their roles in the franchise alongside Jack Champion, Henry Czerny, Liana Liberato, Dermot Mulroney, Devyn Nekoda, Tony Revolori, Josh Segarra, and Samara Weaving.
Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group Present A Project X Entertainment Production, A Radio Silence Film, Scream VI.
Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett, produced by William Sherak, James Vanderbilt, Paul Neinstein, written by James Vanderbilt & Guy Busick, based on characters created by Kevin Williamson.
Scream VI is distributed in the Philippines by Paramount Pictures through Columbia Pictures. Connect with #Scream6 and tag @paramountpicsph
Photo & Video Credit: “Paramount Pictures International”
Starring Academy Award-nominee Adam Driver (Marriage Story, Star Wars: The Force Awakens), “65” has also unveiled a brand new spot which may be viewed below.
About 65
After a catastrophic crash on an unknown planet, pilot Mills (Adam Driver) quickly discovers he’s actually stranded on Earth…65 million years ago. Now, with only one chance at rescue, Mills and the only other survivor, Koa (Ariana Greenblatt), must make their way across an unknown terrain riddled with dangerous prehistoric creatures in an epic fight to survive.
From the writers of A Quiet Place and producer Sam Raimi comes 65, a sci-fi thriller starring Adam Driver, Ariana Greenblatt, and Chloe Coleman. Written and directed by Scott Beck & Bryan Woods and produced by Sam Raimi, Deborah Liebling and Zainab Azizi. Also produced by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods.
65 is distributed in the Philippines by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International. Connect with the hashtag #65Movie
