sneak peek: SECRETARIAT based on the impossible true story

Everyone needed a hero. They got two. One is a massive, chestnut-colored horse, known to his friends and family as Big Red. Everyone else will call him Secretariat. The other, a self-described Denver housewife, is less recognized, but she is as gallant and charismatic as her steed. Her name is Penny Chenery Tweedy, and her faith in this horse will galvanize America , revolutionize horse racing and, ultimately, change her life’s course entirely.

Based on the remarkable true story, Touchstone Pictures’ new inspiring tale “Secretariat” chronicles the spectacular journey of the 1973 Triple Crown winner. Housewife and mother Penny Chenery Tweedy (Diane Lane) agrees to take over her ailing father’s Virginia-based Meadow Stables, despite her lack of horse-racing experience. Against all odds, with the help of veteran trainer Lucien Laurin (John Malkovich), she manages to navigate the male-dominated business, ultimately fostering the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years and what may be the greatest racehorse of all time.

To be shown soon exclusively at Ayala Malls Cinemas (Glorietta 4, Greenbelt 3 & Trinoma), “Secretariat” also stars Dylan Walsh (TV’s “Nip/Tuck”) as Jack Tweedy, Penny’s very traditional and highly skeptical husband and real-life jockey Otto Thorwarth as Secretariat’s jockey, Ron Turcotte.

“The story is about heart — Secretariat’s and the heart of the woman who owned him. Both were greater than anyone imagined,” says director Randall Wallace, who is the Oscar®- and Golden Globe®-nominated screenwriter of the global hit “Braveheart.” “I believe that when Secretariat was running the last of his races, he was no longer running against other horses; he was running for the joy in becoming who he was meant to be.”

Filmmakers tried not to veer from the facts of the story, but Wallace makes clear that he didn’t want to make a documentary account of Chenery’s life. “I have worked on many historical subjects as a filmmaker and I have a saying: Let’s not let the facts get in the way of the truth. The way I see that is, in making a movie, you are making an impressionistic painting. You are choosing which facts to highlight and which facts to omit. Inevitably, by making that choice, you are writing a story from the stark facts of journalism to the vivid majesty of myth. So in this story, what people are going to feel is the deeper truth of what Secretariat and Penny accomplished.”


“Secretariat” brings that spirit to the big screen, showcasing the power of the human (and animal) spirit. But according to Wallace, “Secretariat” has an even greater significance. “I think this movie is about transcendence, about people and animals achieving more than anyone thought possible,” he says. “It has an inspiring theme and story — it’s the powerful story of a horse and a woman who did what no one believed could be done. And it reminds us of the miracle of life, how life is bigger than we believe it can be.”

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UNSTOPPABLE movie review

hold on to your seats for 20th Century Fox's latest action thriller, UNSTOPPABLE, starring Chris Pine and Denzel Washington.

based on a true story, an unmanned train is set to bring terror across Pennsylvania with toxic chemicals and will pulverize anything that block its way. thanks to the neglect of the train employee.

i, too, would like to commend the heroic deeds of Frank Barnes (Washington) and Will Colson (Chris Pine), the train was able to slow down from its more than 75 mi/hr speed. with their job-experience differences, a machine at rage is no match for teamwork. what they did is really amazing.

the movie is really breath-taking. this was commonly my reaction in action movies. the last time i remember i had that feeling was when i saw Die Hard. intensity grows minute after minute and mile after mile as 777 takes the railroad. you will be biting your nails to what Denzel Washington and Chris Pine does in the scenes when they were able to catch up with the raging train. all in all, you will enjoy the movie.

opening today in cinemas, UNSTOPPABLE is produced by 20th Century Fox distributed by Warner Bros.

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MATT DILLON is a chasing cop in TAKERS

His searing performance as a racist officer in the Oscar-winning “Crash” earned Matt Dillon an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. In Columbia Pictures' new action-thriller “Takers,” Dillon plays another cop but of an entirely different mold.

“No, he’s not like the guy in `Crash' at all. Although if you are going to play a cop, I would prefer to play one who is messed up!,” he laughs. “What I mean is, I prefer to play a character who is human, with flaws. Mostly in movies, criminals are more interesting than cops but in the case of `Takers,' the character is as interesting as the bad guys. He’s got flaws and I like that. He’s divorced, he’s got a daughter, and he’s an adrenaline junkie who is very caught up in his work.”

“There’s a sequence in the film where he’s taking his daughter to a museum on his day off but then he gets some information about a guy that they’ve been looking for and he ends up going on a stakeout with his daughter. He ends up chasing this guy down the street with his daughter sitting in the car, with her colouring book, next to him.

“Who would do that? You could end up getting your daughter killed. But that’s what I mean, he’s a messed up guy.”

Dillon's character, Welles, may be a flawed man but he is also a brilliant detective, dogged in pursuit of a young crew – played by Paul Walker, Hayden Christensen and Idris Elba - who specialise in spectacular heists and are planning a $20 million bank robbery.

“I really liked those guys,” says Dillon of his young co-stars. “And I think they work really well in these roles – they have a lot of style, in fact, I think the movie has a lot of style and with a genre like this, it fits together perfectly. It’s ambitious and there are a lot of characters in the film so it’s a big ensemble cast but I think it works.”

“But I didn’t really get a lot of opportunities to work with them as much as I would have liked – you see them planning their heist and I’m trying to catch them, so for a lot of the film we’re really acting in two separate stories. I did some scenes with Paul towards the end which was good. I love Idris’s work too, he’s great.”

Director John Luessenhop used multi camera set ups to film “Takers” and Dillon found the technique produced great results. “John handled the film really well,” he says. “It’s the only film I’ve done where they had so many cameras going at once. And from an acting standpoint there were times where you didn’t even know a camera was there. It also means that when you are shooting action scenes, as we were, you can get a lot done a lot faster. `Takers' was shot digitally,” he says. “And it looks beautiful so it was great to watch how that works.”

Opening soon across the Philippines, “Takers” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International. Visit http://www.columbiapictures.com.ph for trailers, exclusive content and free downloads. Like us at www.Facebook.com/ColumbiaPicturesPH and join our fan contests.

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what you don't know about TRON: LEGACY

In line with the upcoming release of “TRON: Legacy” – a 3D high-tech action-adventure set in a digital world that’s unlike anything ever captured on the big screen – Disney dishes out the interesting fun facts behind the making of this eagerly anticipated film.

In “TRON: Legacy,” Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund), the tech-savvy 27-year-old son of Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), looks into his father’s disappearance and finds himself pulled into the digital world of Tron where his father has been living for 25 years. Along with Kevin’s loyal confidant Qora (Olivia Wilde), father and son embark on a life-and-death journey of escape across a visually-stunning cyber universe that has become far more advanced and exceedingly dangerous.

• The 3D technology in “TRON: Legacy” was developed post-“Avatar” and represents the most advanced in the world today.
• It's the first 3D movie to integrate a fully digital head and body upon an existing actor to create a younger version of Jeff Bridges’ character, Kevin Flynn, using advanced Emotion Capture technology developed by Digital Domain.
• Jeff Bridges is the first actor in cinematic history to play opposite a younger version of himself.
• Grammy®-award winning, French electronic duo Daft Punk scored “TRON: Legacy,” composing 24 tracks in all. They are also seen in a brief cameo.
• The light suits were created using electroluminescent lamps made from a flexible polymer film.
• Lightcycle design was inspired by the original sketches of Syd Mead, who designed them for “TRON” back in 1982. Creating Lightcycles that would form visual units with their riders and still give them room to move was a challenge for “TRON: Legacy” vehicle designer Daniel Simon and the rest of the vehicle design team.
• Both Garrett Hedlund and Olivia Wilde received training in Parkour and martial arts for their roles.
• Because donning the light suits was a time-consuming and labor-intensive process, special inversion boards were provided to allow actors to get off of their feet and recline without endangering the costume.
• The light discs created for the film consist of 134 LED lights, are radio-controlled, and attached to the suits with magnets. In addition, they house the batteries that power the suit lights. They are heavy, so care had to be taken when throwing them on set.
• Several of the vehicles were practically fully built for certain scenes, as opposed to computer-generated, in keeping with director Joseph Kosinski’s vision of blurring the line between CGI and reality.
• Flynn’s Arcade holds a treasure trove of icons for “TRON” fans: the Master Control Program desk caddy from the original film; the tabletop computer interface and a condensed version of the Shiva laser, which takes Sam into the Grid; a map of the Grid embedded in the code of the background image; and Sam’s drawings from childhood on the wall.

Distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Philippines, “TRON: Legacy” will open soon across the country in IMAX 3D, Digital 3D and regular formats.

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watch PACQUIAO-MARGARITO LIVE at PLDT WatchPad

7 days before the big fight of Pound for Pound King, Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao versus Mexican Antonio Margarito on November 14 2010 at Texas Cowboy Stadium. This is the latest match everyone has been waiting for and no one should miss it!

Tickets are already selling out of theaters and lining up is a hassle. But you can watch it over the internet LIVE! Just sign up for a PLDT Watchpad Plan for Php 1,299 and reserve a slot right now! Existing Watchpad users from Php 990 can just upgrade to the better rate. Hurry! Reservations is until 12 midnight TODAY!

See the fight in real time with fast internet connection and NO COMMERCIAL BREAKS! You just need a 768 kbps connection or higher to optimize viewing the fight. See also special celebrities who may be watching the fight at the ringside! Mommy Dionisia Pacquiao is said to watch this fight if Manny promises that this would be the last! I, myself, wouldn't want to miss this. It looks like a David vs Goliath match, but I think Margarito's size will not defeat Pacquiao's speed. I also bet over Pacquiao so I hope he really wins. Though the fight lasts for 12 rounds, I think there will still be a KO.

I wonder who will sing the Philippine National Anthem for this match. I hope he/she can perform it well too.

You can also watch past Manny Pacquiao fights like Pacquiao VS Clottey and Pacquaio VS Cotto. This is an exclusive to all PLDT Watchpad users.

For more updates, you can follow PLDT Watchpad on Facebook and Twitter.

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HP 7: the finale begins

From the moment he was introduced, people all over the globe have thrilled to the adventures of Harry Potter, the boy wizard who changed both literary and cinema history. For more than a decade, David Heyman has been immersed in that magical world, as the producer of all the films based on the best-selling books by J.K. Rowling, who also served as a producer on the film adaptation of her seventh and final title, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.”

But as Heyman approached the last installment in the record-breaking film franchise, he realized that it presented some unique challenges, not the least of which was how to encompass all of the series’ interwoven story threads as they sped toward the climactic conclusion.

Breaking from the tradition of the film series, the decision was made to split “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” into two full-length parts. “When Steve Kloves began working on the screenplay, it became clear we would have to omit too much to do justice to Jo’s book in one film,” Heyman explains. “There were simply too many details that were integral to the resolution of the series.”

Daniel Radcliffe, who plays the title role of Harry Potter, offers, “The intricacy of the plot Jo had mapped out from the beginning is a fantastic feat of storytelling. It has twists and turns, mystery and romance, comedy and action…all the brilliant things people have responded to over the years. It was the only way we could tell the story in a complete and fulfilling way.”

Helming his third Harry Potter feature, David Yates says that Part 1 of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” also breaks tradition by taking the central characters away from the familiar surroundings of Hogwarts. It is actually the first film in the franchise in which the iconic School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is never even seen. “I think that’s one of the most intriguing things about Part 1,” the director states. “We’re away from the magical environment of Hogwarts, which felt very safe even when the characters were in utter jeopardy. Suddenly Harry, Ron and Hermione are trying to survive out in the big, bad world, and it’s a dangerous place. They feel isolated and alone and very vulnerable. It makes the adventure much edgier and more grownup, which really appealed to me, and to Dan, Rupert and Emma as well.”

Radcliffe attests, “I think it gives the film a more adult tone because it’s harder to see us as school kids when we’re no longer at school.”

Reprising the role of Ron Weasley, Rupert Grint comments, “Away from the safety of Hogwarts and the protection of their parents and teachers, anything can happen. They can be attacked at any moment, which gives the film a different energy.”

“Harry, Hermione and Ron don’t have a home anymore,” notes Emma Watson, who returns to the part of Hermione Granger. “They are always on the move and, worse, they are being hunted, so they don’t know who to trust. But the stakes are high, so they have to be brave.”

In fact, the stakes have never been higher as the fates of both the Wizarding world and the Muggle world rest in their young hands. Having learned the secret to Voldemort’s power and immortality, Harry is on a mission to track down the Horcruxes: items in which the Dark Lord has hidden pieces of his very soul. If even one remains, Voldemort can never be defeated. Two of the Horcruxes have already been destroyed—Tom Riddle’s diary and the ring that belonged to Marvolo Gaunt, Riddle’s maternal grandfather. Harry and Dumbledore believed they had located the third Horcrux, Salazar Slytherin’s locket, but it turned out to be a fake, and the real one stolen by someone with the initials R.A.B.

And the others…? The problem is the Horcruxes can be virtually anywhere or in anything.

“I’ve always believed that, for all the magic and action and adventure of the Harry Potter stories, at the heart it’s about these characters,” Heyman emphasizes. “In this film, their relationship is more complex than ever, and in exploring them more deeply, Dan, Rupert and Emma are better than ever.”

Yates agrees, adding that Radcliffe, Grint and Watson felt a strong sense of responsibility towards the roles they inhabited for almost half their lives. “They knew intuitively how their characters would respond to certain things, often much better than we did. I love that about them. As a director, it was wonderful to engage with them because there were times I wasn’t just talking to the actor; I was actually talking to the character.”

Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1” will be released worldwide starting November 18, 2010, and “Part 2” starting July 15, 2011.

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AMANDA BYNES: from sweet girl, to mean girl

Making high school life hell for good girl Olive (Emma Stone) in Columbia Pictures' new teenage comedy “Easy A” are talented young actresses Amanda Bynes (“Hairspray,” “What a Girl Wants”) and Aly Michalka (TV's “Hellcats”) who are going to surprise audiences because they’re playing characters very different from what people are accustomed to.

Michalka and Bynes, who play Rhiannon and Marianne, respectively, readily admit that the differences between their characters in “Easy A” and their past work are a big part of what drew them to their roles.

“Rhiannon is crazy,” says Aly Michalka of the character she portrays. “She’s a girl who is very aggressive and passionate about whatever she believes in, or whatever her opinion is. She is definitely very foulmouthed and will say anything that’s on her mind, which can sometimes be either offensive or abrasive, but she always means well. She just doesn’t really have any sort of a filter. But she loves her best friend Olive, and like best friends sometimes do, she loves to give her a hard time and push her buttons.”

Known primarily to younger audiences for her work on the Disney Channel sitcom Phil of the Future, Michalka enjoyed pushing the envelope with Rhiannon. “I love that she’s a strong character. She’s similar to me in that she’s a great friend, and very loyal, but we’re definitely very different in the way we speak and handle ourselves. Rhiannon also dresses a lot more provocatively than I do. She wants to get attention from people and wishes she was twenty-five, even though she’s still a teen.”

When it came to the tightly wound, evangelical Marianne, Amanda Bynes found inspiration in a character very different than the kind of young woman she typically plays. “I’m used to playing the goofy, funny girl,” says the actress, “and Marianne is the very religious, uptight girl who thinks she rules the school. A lot of her actions come across as kind of mean, evil and totally judgmental, but she thinks she’s coming from a good place, because she claims to be doing the work of God.”

Bynes says that although Marianne’s actions are kind of questionable, there was still something likeable and relatable about her. “Everybody has met that girl who is a ‘type A’ personality, and just wants to be right, be better than everyone and always wants to one-up everyone,” says Bynes. “She’s a fun character to play.”

In directing the actresses, Will Gluck found it easy to forget his talented cast weren’t simply wonderful actors, but stars to the world outside a film set. “We got a good reminder when we were shooting on the street and there over 100 kids mobbing Emma, Aly and Amanda, trying to take their pictures and get autographs,” recalls Gluck. “They’ve established themselves so well in their characters that you sometimes forget they have such a big following.”

Opening across the Philippines on Nov. 10, “Easy A” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International. Visit http://www.columbiapictures.com.ph for trailers, exclusive content and free downloads. Like us at www.Facebook.com/ColumbiaPicturesPH and join our fan contests.

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