Percy Jackson Sea of Monsters Review

In PERCY JACKSON: SEA OF MONSTERS, Percy Jackson, son of Greek god Poseidon, embarks on a journey with his friends to retrieve the Golden Fleece to save a magical tree containing the spririt of Zeus's daughter Thalia who died at the gates of Camp Half-Blood whilst saving Annabeth and Luke and Grover. This tree protects their training ground, Camp Half-Blood. They must travel to the Sea of Monsters to save it, and find the challenges that may await them.

I have not seen the first movie, nor have I read the book. Regardless of which, I enjoyed SEA OF MONSTERS nonetheless. The few references to the previous movie did not pose as a hindrance to understanding the movie. One has just to use some common sense to understand that many of these characters do know each other from the previous adventure, and some may have existing qualms to settle.
[to read the FULL REVIEW, CLICK HERE]

Korean Film "No Breathing" will have Scenes Shot in Davao

The leading stars'
arrival in Davao City
[from the movie's
facebook page]

An upcoming South Korean movie entitled NO BREATHING is set to have Davao City featured in their movie. The Philippine Star reports that the South Korean filmmakers chose the Davao City for what would be around 15 minutes of the movie. Its Producers have "discovered" Davao when a contingent from the city participated in the Korean World Travel Fair in Seoul last June. This is according to Department of Tourism-XI Regional Director Art Boncato, who also said "They will bring in around 72-man crew with about 15-20 actors." Boncato added that their producers were impressed with the cleanliness and natural resources of Davao when they had their pre-production ocular visit.
[continue reading after the jump]

The Legend of Zelda Video Pitch which Nintendo Turned Down

Animation studio Imagi (TMNT, Astro Boy) has proposed and put together a pitch reel for an animated film adaptation of the popular Nintendo game THE LEGEND OF ZELDA. Unfortunately, Nintendo has turned down the proposal (probably because it still hasn't gotten over the trauma of how bad Hollywood adapted the SUPER MARIO BROTHERS movie around 20 years ago). Fans of The Legend of Zelda should remain contented with what the game has to offer, and not look to hope for a movie version to come anytime soon. [Hit the jump to check out the video]

ELYSIUM Philippine Release Moved to September 4

The upcoming Neill Blomkamp movie ELYSIUM which stars Matt Damon and Jodie Foster was originally, widely advertised for several months now, scheduled to have its Philippine release on August 9, 2013. Earlier this week, we noticed that the ads which had the schedule of the movie were removed from various websites such as clickthecity. Last Tuesday, Columbia Pictures Philippines has released a press statement announcing that ELYSIUM is now scheduled for a September 4 Philippine release date. No additional explainations have been provided. [hit the jump to read the press statement which gives data about the movie, and at the end goes directly to the point which states the Philippine release date]

After 3 Decades, SCARFACE gets a New Remake

Paul Muni as Tony
Camonte, The Scarface
of the original 1932
version

Brian De Palma‘s 1983 movie SCARFACE, which starred Michelle Pfeiffer and Al Pacino in his unforgettable role as the highly influential gangster, was not exactly a good movie. But over the years, it has become this iconic gangster movie that has become embedded in various forms of media (especially in hip-hop culture). That 1983 movie was itself, a remake of the 1932 movie of the same title (which many critics refer to as the better version of the two)

Now, it's going through the remake mill again as Universal is working on bringing back SCARFACE and take the ethnic and geographical aspects of the previous two movies, and then reposition them into a 21st century context. [continue after the jump]

A Young Merlin Movie is being developed by Warner Bros.

perhaps a more teeny version of this

MERLIN is one popular fictional character which is most interesting and most attractive to studios that are looking for the next fantasy franchise to cash in, as much as the Harry Potter series did. A Young Merlin movie is now being developed into a movie (and possibly a movie series). Warner Bros.has tapped Dave Hill (Game of Thrones) and David Farr (Hanna) to script a new take on the original wizard, Merlin. [continue after the jump]

WARCRAFT Plot Details Revealed; will Center More on the Classic Warcraft Storylines

WARCRAFT is definitely one of the biggest, highly anticipated movies, currently being developed. Duncan Jones, via the website Bleeding Cool, has recently revealed some details about what we can expect from WARCRAFT. [hit the jump to continue]

LARONG BATA gets Iloilo Screening this September

An indie film, “LARONG BATA” will be shown on September 14, 2013 (Saturday), 5 pm, at SM Iloilo Cinema 6, in the hopes of raising additional funds for the chemotherapy of the children that KKK takes care of. The film will be a very good form of educating students on the very touchy issue of “bullying”. The movie features Melai Cantiveros, Jason Francisco and Makisig Morales and is directed by Niel Tan. The whole story is presented comically, highly amusing and entertaining for minor audiences but the message of bullying is emphasized and addressed. [hit the jump to continue]

Trailer Tuesdays: Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, The Smurfs 2, Brutus, Kinatay, Tulad ng Dati, Killing Season, Raketeros, Elysium, We're the Millers, Lone Survivor,

Our Trailer Tuesdays this week brings forth some trailers for the upcoming sequel to the Percy Jackson movie, the new one entitled PERCY JACKSON: SEA OF MONSTERS, another fun-filled sequel which is THE SMURFS 2, the action film KILLING SEASON with Robert De Niro and John Travolta, and RAKETEROS which reunites comedians Herbert Bautista, Dennis Padilla, Andrew E. , Ogie Alcasid, Joey Marquez, Long Mejia, and Tippy Dos Santos. Then there's also ELYSIUM which was originally scheduled to open locally this Friday August 9, but it seems that Local Cinema websites have removed ELYSIUM from this Friday's skeds (Just keep visiting this site for updates). Then we also have the irreverently hilarious comedy WE'RE THE MILLERS, and also a military action drama that just looks emotionally powerful; Peter Berg's LONE SURVIVOR. We also have the trailer for the magnificent film by Ilongga Tara Illenberger entitled BRUTUS, also TULAD NG DATI which is about the band The Dawn, and the film which Brillante Mendoza won Best Director in the 62nd Cannes Film Festival; KINATAY [hit the jump to check out the trailers]

Akira Live-Action Film Adaptaion Moves Ahead

For years, Warner Bros.has been trying to develop the popular manga/anime AKIRA for a live-action film adaptation, but time and again, they have failed. But most recently, Jaume Collet-Serra (Unknown) was attached to direct with a cast that plans to include Garrett Hedlund, Kristen Stewart, Helena Bonham Carter, and Ken Watanabe.  Collet-Serra and WB had managed to reduce the budget down to somewhere between $60 million and $70 million. [continue after the jump]

Universal Planning to Continue the Bourne Legacy with Renner

Jeremy Renner will return as Aaron Cross in the sequel to THE BOURNE LEGACY, which is a spinoff of the Bourne series. Universal Pictures is set to make this follow-up movie and hired Sherlock Holmes and Invictus screenwriter Anthony Peckham to write the script. Ever since the end of the third Bourne movie, Universal has been trying to get Matt Damon back to the series (and the spinoff), there were even rumors that both Damon and Renner should both appear (possibly as allies or rivals) in the movie after 'Legacy. But it looks like Damon will not be around for more Bourne, and this new movie is just going to feature Renner as the main character. [continue after the jump]

PUSONG WAZAK wins at the Puchon Filmfest

The Inquirer reports that Filipino filmmaker Khavn de la Cruz’s “Pusong Wazak” won the It Project Award at the Network of Asian Fantastic Film, the project market of the Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival held in South Korea recently. De la Cruz relayed the news to the Inquirer. The English title of “Pusong Wazak” is “Ruined Heart! Another Love Story Between a Criminal and a Whore.” The Puchon prize comes with 10 million won (US$8,956).
For more info about the movie, check out their facebook page: www.facebook.com/pusongwazak

source: The Philippine Daily Inquirer

The Real Auntie Terry's Reunion with ILO ILO director Anthony Chen

The Singaporean movie entitled "ILO ILO" was based upon the true-to-life experiences of director Anthony Chen and his family's relationship with a Pinay OFW Nanny from the City of Iloilo, Philippines.

Weeks ago, we reported that the real Auntie Terry, the Pinay OFW who inspired the story of ILO ILO had a reunion with the director of the movie Anthony Chen. Finding Auntie Terry was a story which brought about a flood of media attention and excitement, especially from Iloilo.

The Facebook page of the movie has provided the (translations of the) report of the Singaporean newspaper which had covered the event, which.was a very low-key event with no other media, as requested by Anthony and his family. [hit the jump to read the report]

Sōjirō & Aoshi Roles Been Cast for Rurouni Kenshin Sequel/s

There is much anticipation for the upcoming RUROUNI KENSHIN Sequel "Rurouni Kenshin: The Great Kyoto Fire Arc" The role of the main villain Shishio has already been named (we reported some time ago that it was gonna be Tatsuya Fujiwara), now fans are asking: who will portray the characters Aoshi Shinomori And Sōjirō Seta? Now we have an answer; Ryunosuke Kamiki will play Sōjirō Seta, the right-hand man of the former government assassin Shishio. While Yusuke Iseya will play Aoshi Shinomori, the head of the Oniwabanshū ninja. [hit the jump to continue]

Miramax & Disney reunite to develop ARTEMIS FOWL

The young adult fantasy book series ARTEMIS FOWL is about the adventures of a 12-year-old criminal mastermind who kidnaps a fairy in order to harness its magic to save his family. This book series currently spans eight novels. Miramax has since been trying to develop it into a film ever since the company has acquired rights for the book back in 2001. Now, Miramax has reunited with Disney to bring ARTEMIS FOWL to the big screen, hoping it could spawn a new fantasy movie franchise the way Harry Potter did.
[hit the jump to read the press release from Disney]