“M3GAN” is a marvel of artificial intelligence, a life-like doll programmed to be a child’s greatest companion and a parent’s greatest ally. Designed by brilliant toy-company roboticist Gemma (Get Out’s Allison Williams), M3GAN can listen and watch and learn as she becomes friend and teacher, playmate and protector, for the child she is bonded to.
When Gemma suddenly becomes the caretaker of her orphaned 8-year-old niece, Cady (Violet McGraw, The Haunting of Hill House), Gemma’s unsure and unprepared to be a parent. Under intense pressure at work, Gemma decides to pair her M3GAN prototype with Cady in an attempt to resolve both problems—a decision that will have unimaginable consequences. As M3GAN and Cady develop an unbreakable bond, Gemma grows more and more terrified that the very creation she invented to help Cady heal is learning at an exponential rate…and that M3GAN may be perceiving “threats” to Cady that do not exist. M3GAN also co-stars Ronny Chieng (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) as David, Gemma’s C.E.O. at the toy company that bankrolls what will become M3GAN.
James Wan, who also helmed “Aquaman” and visited the Philippines for the film’s world promotion tour shared that his latest horror movie “M3GAN” began with the conversation that there are not enough killer-doll movies. “That led me to say, ‘It’s funny. There is a perception that I make those kinds of films. Strangely enough, none of my dolls kill anyone. They are a conduit for a supernatural entity or a demonic force that lives within. For example, in the case of Saw, Jigsaw has a puppet that he talks through as a mouthpiece. Wouldn’t it be cool if we did a killer-doll movie that was Annabelle meets The Terminator,” Wan says.
On a broader cultural level, the film explores our increasing dependence on technology to run our lives … and the potential threat if that tech begins to exceed our control. “The science and the A.I. aspects were fascinating with which to play, as they are so relevant to today’s world,” Wan continues. “We rely on technology so much in everything we do. For these devices to turn around and attack us would be horrifying. That’s the thing that we wanted to try and capture with M3GAN.”
A Universal Pictures International feature film, “M3GAN” will play in cinemas on January 8.
“We sought to make Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody a rich, beautiful, moving, and very human tribute to a great talent – one of the greatest we will ever see,” says director Kasi Lemmons, who helms the film, joining forces with much of the creative team that brought the worldwide hit Bohemian Rhapsody to the screen, including screenwriter/producer Anthony McCarten. “She has a complicated story, in the way that all humans are complicated. We can relate to her and the struggles she went through, the pressures she faced, and we get to understand her.”
The film began when legendary music executive Clive Davis had a chance meeting with screenwriter/producer Anthony McCarten, fresh off the worldwide success of the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody. “Over dinner in a New York restaurant, Clive proposed I consider Whitney as my next film project, promising that he could facilitate the introductions to the Houston estate that would be necessary to unlock access to the music, without which no story about a musician is worth undertaking,” says McCarten. “At first, I wasn’t sure there was a fresh, untold story of Whitney to be had, but the next day, Clive showed me a video of Whitney performing the ‘Impossible Medley,’ and I saw what the movie could be.”
McCarten was, of course, astounded to be reminded of the master class in voice control that is Houston’s performance at the 1994 AMAs. But he was concerned about presenting Houston’s story as a biopic. Isn’t Whitney Houston’s story a tragedy? But after a second meeting with Davis, McCarten turned his thinking around. “If we only judge artists by how long they live, Shakespeare’s life is a tragedy,” McCarten says. “Whitney’s life is a triumph. She gave us these extraordinary moments, these great performances. That story has not been told.”
And if there is a theme that runs through Houston’s work – a theme that provides a natural narrative arc for the film – it is the idea of the search for family, the search for home, the yearning for the deep connection that comes with love and affection – the Whitney Houston who deeply wanted to dance with somebody who loved her. “She’s just a girl from the neighborhood who wants to be loved, wants to have a home, wants to have people who care about her and love her, and wants to share her talent with the world,” says producer Jeff Kalligheri. That’s what we hear in her music, and that’s what she’s searching for in her life.”
In cinemas across the Philippines starting Sunday, January 08, Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International. Connect with the hashtag #IWannaDanceMovie
Just in time for Valentine’s Day comes the third installment of the blockbuster “Magic Mike” film franchise, the musical comedy “Magic Mike’s Last Dance.” The creative team behind the first film “Magic Mike,” which garnered praise from critics and audiences alike, has reunited to create the magic again in “Magic Mike’s Last Dance”: Channing Tatum reprises his role as Mike Lane and Steven Soderbergh returns to the helm with a script from Reid Carolin, who also wrote the first two films. And starring alongside Tatum is Salma Hayek Pinault (“House of Gucci,” “Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard”).
“Magic” Mike Lane (Tatum) takes to the stage again after a lengthy hiatus, following a business deal that went bust, leaving him broke and taking bartender gigs in Florida. For what he hopes will be one last hurrah, Mike heads to London with a wealthy socialite (Hayek Pinault) who lures him with an offer he can’t refuse…and an agenda all her own. With everything on the line, once Mike discovers what she truly has in mind, will he—and the roster of hot new dancers he’ll have to whip into shape—be able to pull it off?
The film’s producers are Nick Wechsler, Gregory Jacobs, Tatum, Carolin and Peter Kiernan. Julie M. Anderson serves as executive producer.
Also starring with Tatum and Hayek Pinault are Ayub Khan Din (“Ackley Bridge”), newcomer Jemelia George, Juliette Motamed (“We Are Lady Parts”) and Vicki Pepperdine (“Johnny English Strikes Again”).
Soderbergh’s creative team behind the scenes includes production designer Pat Campbell (“The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself”), costume designer Christopher Peterson (“The Irishman”) and music supervisor Season Kent (“KIMI,” “Let Them All Talk”), with choreography by Alison Faulk and Luke Broadlick, both part of the “Magic Mike” franchise.
A Warner Bros. Pictures Presentation, “Magic Mike’s Last Dance” slides into theaters across the Philippines beginning this February 2023.
Join the conversation online and use the hashtag #MagicMikesLastDance
The new star-studded film Babylon has dropped two new trailers dubbed Naughty and Nice. The upcoming movie is a period comedy-drama which depicts the rise and fall of multiple characters during Hollywood’s transition from silent to sound films.
Below are the film’s classy Nice trailer, and the wild Naughty trailer:
Written and directed by Damien Chazelle, the film stars Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Diego Calva, Tobie Maguire, Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li, and Jean Smart. It is scheduled for a US release on December 23, 2022, and in the Philippines on February 1, 2023.
From Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures comes “Creed III,” with Michael B. Jordan making his directorial debut and returning in the role of Adonis Creed in the third installment of the hit franchise. The film also stars Tessa Thompson (“Creed” franchise, “Passing”), Jonathan Majors (“Da 5 Bloods,” “Lovecraft Country”), Wood Harris (“Creed” franchise, “Blade Runner 2049”), Florian Munteanu (“Creed II,” “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”), newcomer Mila Kent, and Phylicia Rashad (“Creed” franchise, “Soul”).
Jordan directs from a screenplay by Keenan Coogler (“Space Jam: A New Legacy”) & Zach Baylin (“King Richard”), from a story by Ryan Coogler (“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”) and Keenan Coogler & Zach Baylin. It is produced by Irwin Winkler, Charles Winkler, William Chartoff, David Winkler, Ryan Coogler, Michael B. Jordan, Elizabeth Raposo, Jonathan Glickman and Sylvester Stallone. The executive producers are Sev Ohanian, Zinzi Coogler, Nicolas Stern and Adam Rosenberg.
Jordan is joined behind the camera by director of photography Kramer Morgenthau (“Creed II,” “Thor: The Dark World”), production designer Jahmin Assa (“mid90s,” “Angelyne”), editor Tyler Nelson (“The Batman,” “Rememory”), costume designer Lizz Wolf (“Creed II,” “Pacific Rim: Uprising”), with a score by composer Joseph Shirley (“Jackass Forever,” “The Book of Boba Fett”).
Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures Presents A Chartoff-Winkler Production, “Creed III,” which will be distributed internationally by Warner Bros. Pictures including the Philippines.
Join the conversation online and use the hashtag #Creed3
After his 2020 sci-fi film Tenet, Christopher Nolan is back with the new biopic Oppenheimer, which has just released its official trailer. The new film follows the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer who must risk destroying the world in order to save it.
Watch the trailer for Oppenheimer below:
Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and the late Martin J. Sherwin, Oppenheimer follows the eponymous man who was dubbed the father of the atomic bomb.
The film stars Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, and Rami Malek. Oppenheimer is coming to US cinemas on July 21, 2023.
Cinemalaya is now accepting entries for the Short Film category for its 2023 edition.
Interested filmmakers must submit their application on or before March 3, 2023 (Friday), 6:00 p.m. They may submit their requirements either online by following the official link at https://bit.ly/Cinemalaya2023ShortFilmCallforEntries or onsite at the Film, Broadcast, and New Media Division (FBNMD), Design Center of the Philippines (CCP Annex) at Vicente Sotto St. corner Magdalena Jalandoni St., Pasay City.
For online submission, requirements include online entry form, uploaded film, and filmmaker’s profile.
For offsite submission, entries must include: the duly completed application form; the final work in MP4 format with violator saved on USB, properly labeled with the title, production company address and contact numbers, production date, director’s name and running time; synopsis in English; and a brief résumé and two (2) recent 2×2 photos of the filmmaker(s). Entries must be submitted in a long brown envelope properly labeled with the proponent’s name, title and contact details.
The 10 best short films will be informed on May 26, 2023, and will compete for the Best Short Film award during the 2023 Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival on August 4 to 13, 2023.
Fresh from its successful 18th edition, Cinemalaya is an all-digital film competition that aims to discover, encourage and support the cinematic works of Filipino filmmakers that boldly articulate and freely interpret the Filipino experience with fresh insight and artistic integrity.
In a city of millions, no one hears you scream. Check out the official teaser trailer for Paramount Pictures’ “Scream VI”, in Philippine theaters March 8, 2023.
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”
There is no question that James Cameron can deliver a truly cinematic experience. From the first two films of the ‘Terminator’ franchise, to his installment of ‘Aliens,’ the massively epic ‘Titanic,’ or even the lesser-known ‘Abyss’ (which has to be seen with the director’s cut), James Cameron knows how to tell a story with a camera. His pacing, choice of narrative beats, attention to detail, and the way he fills each shot with such care for the story all amount to a very satisfying time in the cinema. It doesn’t matter if he can get cheesy (like in ‘Titanic’) or even basic and by-the-numbers (like the inescapable comparisons of the first ‘Avatar’ to films like ‘Pocahontas’ or even the animated movie ‘Fern Gully’), when you are in that cinema and watching his movies, you will be beguiled and entranced by what he puts on screen.
And that’s exactly what you get with Avatar: The Way of Water. His sequel to his 2009 massive hit ‘Avatar,’ expands the world of Pandora and follows the story of Jake Sully and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) and their growing family. In the 6-minute opening sequence, we catch up on the events that happened after the first film as Sam Worthington narrates as Jake Sully, the former soldier who, in the body of a Na’vi, has become the Toruk Makto, a war leader for the Na’vi. We discover that Jake’s family has grown with the addition of four children (one is an adopted daughter from a ‘miraculous birth’) and that the life of a Na’vi seems very much in agreement with Jake.
Except, the humans come back, with a larger force and an even more insidious means by which to oppose the native forces that fight against them. In an attempt to protect the forest and their tribe, Jake takes his whole family and brings them to the south to the lands of the reef people. The reef people are Na’vi (with a light green skin color) and biology more suited to living in the water. But Jake left because the marines are after him and, of course, they come looking for him and Jake must fight to protect his family (and newfound tribe) from the human forces.
‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ is a 193-minute immersive science fiction epic that truly brings us deeper into the world of Pandora and shows us what lies beneath the crashing waves of Pandora’s seas. We were first made to experience the joy of flight in the first movie as Jake discovers the joys of flying with his winged beast. In ‘Avatar: The Way of Water,’ James Cameron explores the beauty of the ocean depths of his fictional world through Jake Sully’s children.
He takes his bloody time to show us the lush fauna and flora of this new aspect of Pandora while building upon the new characters he has brought into the sequel. His children become friends with the chief of the reef Na’vi and all the kids take a familiar archetype – there’s the dutiful eldest son, the troubled middle child, the special adopted child, and the innocent youngest – but because we spend so much time with them and get to explore this gorgeous world together, we begin to forgive them for their annoying habits (they are typical children after all) and we cheer them on when they do achieve something.
There’s a clean, old-school storytelling that James Cameron employs in his film structure that no matter how much he dawdles plot-wise, we are constantly filled with wonder, character work, and narrative placement that when the climax happens, we are excited, invested, and completely spellbound to the whole ride. Even at 3 hours, I did not once see someone stand up to rush to the bathroom. We were all transfixed to the screen and followed the story tightly.
And we followed it even if, at some point, we start to see the hollowness of the script. There’s a one-dimensional quality to the film: the humans are capitalist monsters who would destroy everything in their path to get what they want while the Na’vi are the locals, steeped in faux spiritualism that is completely in touch and in tune with nature and the planet. It’s all great on paper but it never becomes a real representation of real-world ideologies. In the end, what is Cameron really saying? That Capitalism is bad and that we have to return to nature? But he doesn’t say how? And, while it is a science fiction film and an adventure, it never really presents the nuances of a possible solution except direct opposition. The film culminates into a huge battle (you can see this in the trailer) and while we can’t wait to see it because we know it’s going to look great, it sort of reduces this whole film into saying that war is the only recourse.
Is Cameron saying that all cultures ravaged by imperialism should fight back? The Na’vi have all manners of cultural traits of our reality’s non-white races. The Na’vi have dreadlocks or braids, speak with an accent, and use spiritualism akin to Asian and African beliefs. The humans are primarily white and have an ideology like the imperialist west. Is ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ a denouncement of western imperialism and a call to action from all oppressed and colonized countries to push back and fight back?
And it doesn’t help that Jake Sully seems to not have grown since the first movie as a person. He begins completely in thrall to his new life as a Na’vi father and a part of a true community but the moment he returns to soldier mode on the return of the humans, we see him quickly return to warrior mode and become a questionable father figure. While Zoe Saldana, as Neytiri, spends most of the movie angry at him or her children. She becomes the stereotypical angry, fierce mother. Where are the two characters who have gone through so much in the first movie?
No, this film is for their children, and interestingly enough, the human child that was born and raised in Pandora. Spider, as he is called, has all the imagery of Tarzan but by way of Pandora and he has his own very interesting character arc to follow.
While I do have a lot of things to say about the story and the ideologies behind the film, I will still stand by the fact that everything about the way this movie appears on screen is just gorgeous. Cameron has used technology in such a way to give us a truly immersive cinematic experience that one of my friends called “like watching a sophisticated video game” and it is like actually being there. In an IMAX 3D cinema, you will be completely overwhelmed (in a good way) about how intricate this world is. I’ve never seen anything like it before. At first, my eyes were not used to seeing a film in such a manner. It looked off and unrealistic but after the first half hour, I was completely drawn into the world.
There are camera angles and movements that I’ve never seen before and as Cameron uses it to explore the gorgeous world beneath the surface of the Pandoran sea, it’s magical. It’s why we go to the movies. You are actually transported into an alien world. It’s the same feeling as watching Cuaron’s ‘Gravity.’ You’re in that moment and you can’t let go.
You have to see it in 3D and, if possible, 3D IMAX to get the full experience of this film. It’s what cinemas were made for.
Experience the amazing world of Pandora like never before as “Avatar: The Way of Water” arrives in cinemas nationwide today. The film makes stunning use of cutting-edge technology that allows viewers to feel as if they are in the blue world itself, showing why it is best seen in 3D, 4D, or IMAX formats!
“Avatar: The Way of Water” is the long-awaited second installment to James Cameron’s Academy Award-winning 2009 epic adventure ‘Avatar,’ the highest grossing film of all time.
Set more than a decade after the first film, “Avatar: The Way of Water” follows the story of the Sully family as they continue to live – Jake (Sam Worthington), Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña), and their children–within the blue world of Pandora. After an old enemy returns and threatens the existence of their world, the Sullies must not only fight to protect their home but also each other. With the Na’vi army on their side, can the Sully family survive not only the battles but also the tragedies that come their way?
Directed by James Cameron, “Avatar: The Way of Water” features a stellar ensemble of new and returning cast members including Sigourney Weaver (“Kiri”), Stephen Lang (“Miles Quaritch”), Cliff Curtis (“Tonowari”), Joel David Moore (“Norm Spellman”), CCH Pounder (“Mo’at”), Edie Falco (“General Frances Ardmore”), Jemaine Clement (“ Dr. Ian Garvin”), Giovanni Ribisi (“Parker Selfridge”), and Kate Winslet (“Ronal”).
The screenplay and story are written by James Cameron, Rick Jaffa, and Amanda Silver, with co-writers Josh Friedman and Shane Salerno. The film is produced by James Cameron and Jon Landau, with David Valdes and Richard Baneham serving as the executive producers.
“Avatar: The Way of Water” is a must-watch spectacle and is definitely the perfect movie for the holidays. Grab your tickets now and get ready for an action-packed adventure in the world of Pandora!
For more information on showtimes, visit this link. For block and corporate screenings, click here.
Join the conversations online using #AvatarTheWayOfWaterPH. You can also follow 20th Century Studios Philippines on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTubefor more updates.
