There will be Reviews…soon!!! June 2009 Movie Releases in the Philippines
Posted by emperorbananaketchup on June 11, 2009
Again, it’s this time of the year when we officially welcome the Summer Blockbuster™ season – it’s that time when the event pictures all come rolling out, over here more or less day-to-date with the US (you know, piracy is such a pain the ass for Hollywood).
I can say, though, that the first real rays of hope came with last month’s Star Trek release, which not only warmed critics’ hearts with its rejuvenated and slicked-up take on the classic line-up but also forged arguments with “Trekkies” of all stripes regarding the narrative conveniences set up by filmmaker J. J. Abrams. Chris Pine’s cocksure Captain Kirk nearly replaced Twilight bloodsucker Robert Pattinson as teen-age girls “geek” hunk du jour, while the likes of Anton Yelchin and Simon Pegg got to steal the show with their interpretations of fan favourites Chekhov and Scotty.
Terminator: Salvation was good in parts, but a tad too long and a bit too serious for its own good. Where was the McG whose sly retro-wink humor turned both Charlie’s Angels movies into high-octane guilty pleasures??? Sad to say, X-Men Origins: Wolverine left me a lot wanting action-wise (could it be because I was expecting a lot more from Deadpool??) What baffled me even more was that the Hugh Jackman starrer grossed more over here than the latest iteration of Gene Roddenberry’s legacy.
By the way, titles in orange are Tagalog releases while those in italics are must-sees.
June 3
Drag Me to Hell
International Trailer
Behind the scenes
I have already said my piece regarding my enthusiasm for Sam Raimi’s return to the horror fold. Please feel free to read & comment on my review here.
Notorious
Trailer
Not the Hitchcock classic starring Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman, but a biopic of slain rapper Christopher Wallace, aka The Notorious B.I.G., whose career rise and untimely death set the tone for hip-hop’s continuing flirtation with sybaritic decadence and mortality.
From Within
Trailer
Baby Angelo
Dalaw
June 10
Shinjuku Incident
Trailer (w/ translations for us non-Mandarin Chinese speakers)
Say what you want regarding Jackie Chan’s foot-in-mouth statements regarding the state of freedom in China (dude, leave the politicking to…well, the politicians) but Chan can always be called upon to turn in a good performance.
Audiences in the West are used to seeing Jackie in comic or fantastic vehicles where he gets to highlight his martial-arts prowess, so Shinjuku Incident – where he plays a rather Everyman role as a Chinese immigrant going up against the Yakuza in the titular Tokyo district – should be quite difficult to get used to. Likewise, non- Japanese film productions usually find it hard to lens in downtown Tokyo, but with Chan’s favourable profile especially among the Japanese, the production were given carte blanche to run the streets.
Blood: The Last Vampire
US trailer
FYI, Gianna Jun (which kinda sounds like a well-known Harrison Ford character) is the Western screen name of Korean superstar Jeon Ji-Hyun (best known as the titular character in the original Korean My Sassy Girl film) who plays the burusera-clad, katana-wielding vampire slayer Saya in the live-action adaptation of the Japanese anime series directed by Chris (Kiss of the Dragon) Nahon.
Kamoteng Kahoy
UPCAT
Trailer
Thank the heavens for little blessings…a slice-of-life coming-of-age comedy about taking the entrance exams at the University of the Philippines. No dewy Koreanovela-esque camera angles here, but solid, earnest portrayals and a dry, witty script should remind cynics (including moi) out there that there is still hope in Pinoy cinema.
Even if its heart beats to the bouncy beat of a Parokya ni Edgar ditty.
June 12
The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3
New trailer
Denzel Washington and John Travolta face off (hah, baaad pun alert!!!) in this remake of the Walter Matthau/Robert Shaw-starring 1973 thriller directed by Tony Scott (reuniting with his Man on Fire star) from a script by Brian Helgeland (L.A. Confidential, Payback)
Ending of the original film – look ma, no CGI!!!
June 24
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Clip of “Wheelie” w/ Mikaela (Megan Fox) – ach, it’s in German!!!
“Demolisher” in Deutsch!!!
You can count on me lining up on the first day of this. The first Transformers really exceeded my expectations, with its realistic robot battles and well-executed shape-shifting capabilities. Nevertheless, director and pyrotechnic junkie Michael Bay manages to sneak in some humor – who couldn’t forget Optimus Prime and his Autobots trying to play inconspicuous around the unsuspecting Witwicky home? – while paying respect to the classic series by casting original Optimus Prime voice Peter Cullen to lend his mechanical basso profundo to his big-screen incarnation.
Speaking of robots, here are some of these making their big-screen bow this time around.
- Arcee, a pink Autobot motorbike ridden by Megan Fox (whose character Mikaela works in a custom bike shop) in the film
Arcee in bike and robot forms
- Skids & Mudflap – aka “The Twins”; the Autobots’ resident Zack & Cody are based upon the Chevrolet Beat and Trax concept cars.
Skids & Mudflap in robot mode
Skids (green) & Mudflap (red) flanking Bumblebee
- Jetfire – a former Decepticon who uses his inside knowledge to help out his new friends. He takes on the form of an SR-71 Blackbird.
Jetfire in robot mode
Interesting enough, the Jetfire in the original animated series resembled the Valkyrie robots in the original Super Dimension Fortress Macross anime series (aka Robotech: the Macross saga)
- Ravage, a Decepticon who takes on the form of a jaguar (the animal, not the automobile)
Ravage in humanoid (biped) and jaguar forms
- Wheelie, a Decepticon spy who looks a helluva like Wall-E (whatta sideswipe - bad pun alert!!! – to Disney/Pixar) and takes the form of a R/C 4WD truck (see above trailer)
- Devastator, the combined form of all five Constructicons – Scavenger, Scrapper, Longhaul, Hightower, Rampage, Overload and Mixmaster – who all pledge their service to the Decepticons under Starscream.
Devastator in attack mode - run for your lives!!!
Now that’s one totally baaad-aaaasssss bunch of ‘bots!!!
The Coffin
International trailer
More Thai horror coming our way…with a cast including HK star Karen Mok and Ananda Everingham (from the Pang Bros. original “Shutter”).
Mother of Tears
US trailer
It isn’t often that a film by Italian horrormeister Dario Argento sneaks by our shores (given that it gets the all-important oh-khay from the sticks-up-the-arses that is our MTRCB) but even then, the prognosis doesn’t look too good.
Makes you want to think (and ponder) – why is it all of the counter-programming to the impending Hollywood summer blockbuster deluge happens to be horror-oriented? It would be nice if a comedy or two gets to sneak in…Pinoys would need a laugh or even a chuckle to get by all that political and economic uncertainty facing them, not gory, gruesome fare which makes them all the more morbid.
Which reminds me, whatever happened to “Paul Blart: Mall Cop”? “Role Models”? Judging from the trailers, it seems that “Adventureland” and “Year One” look promising. It’s bad enough that “The Hangover”’s Philippine release has been pushed to August (along with “Up” and even “Land of the Lost”).
Anyway, here’s to the start of the Summer Blockbuster™ season this 2009!!!!
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