Top Korean Film "THE ROUNDUP" Now Showing in SM Cinemas

Looks like we're in for a treat this month as the most popular movie in Korea is now showing in SM Cinemas, it's an action flick called THE ROUNDUP starring Ma Dong-seok aka Don Lee who also starred in Train to Busan which was a hit worldwide. 

Ms. Grace Lee says "We have been really eager to do this years ago, where we are able to showcase Korean movies while it's being shown in Korea. I've been convincing them since 2020 and got delayed because of the pandemic. In 2021, we were asked about the conditions here and they were more eager to pursue it from happening. I was fortunate to bring the number 1 movie in 2022, this is the biggest movie hit in Korea. I hope Philippine viewers to be able to watch it in cinemas now that it's available. Our partners in Korea produce and distribute, they give us a synopsis and the final edit of the movie. I've known how Filipinos love the stars, THE ROUNDUP is an action film and perhaps it'll be bigger and better (as it is a sequel), and possibly in the next projects it'll be the stars promoting the movie here. Glimmer is also in drama production, we have to sign an NDA until it comes out and we're not allowed to give details especially when half of the scenes are shot in the Philippines. THE ROUNDUP is actually a sequel of a drama, Dong Lee is also a big star since he's in Train to Busan and different series. He's very versatile, you'll see layers of him in the movie."

 

Grace Lee heads Glimmer who distributes Korean films now in the country

She adds "Filipinos and Koreans have similar values. Korean movies have high production value, and distributing this at this time might have challenges, but all good and Glimmer (our partner) has been very supportive. Recently, international movies have been doing quite nice in the box office and opening up with TOP GUN for people who are slowly coming back to watch was a pretty good move for us. We do even have next ones in the pipeline but we have to wait til they give their go signal. It's risky to produce movies in Korea as the value is pretty high. We shot here for 3 months, with Filipino actors doing very big supporting roles and it will come out in November. We've already crossed that bridge and have Filipino talent is pursued. We are doing this as a start for the Korean movie wave, it's a hit in Korea and Southeast Asian countries. The market is ready, I don't see why not the Philippines and acknowledge we are ready for consumption. We are talking to Korean partners about bringing Philippine content to Korea. We're in the talks and we're taking the next steps. It'll be an exciting year for all of us!"

Go watch the movie today as it'll be something worth your time. It won't be guns blazing though because it's barred to have them in Korea. It's more of closeup hand to hand combat with sharp or blunt things so it's different from western movies. 

Can't wait to watch it tomorrow!

The LOLA Movie BOOK CLUB Shows On Theaters Today

I like this movie, how their lives individually are flawed but it's not that depressing, it's light and fun. If you think they're old and wouldn't connect at all with the story, you're mistaken. This needs to be watched.

You see, truth be told, they are way over comfortable age. Hand them a book with Christian Gray and all hell breaks loose. I like how they got us hooked with their personalities first, then their story. It kinda gets revealed as the movie goes on and you wouldn't mind if they end up divulging what ordinary people like you and me would only say inside our head, whilst they do it comfortably because wine happened. You'll also be hopeful, in one way or another that every cast member would end up happy - and perhaps they did. 

Now go to your favorite cinemas (SM is an easy choice) and watch Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, Diane Keaton and Mary Steenburgen do this different kind of book club for you. It's friendship, love, relationships done in a few hours. You'll smile, even cry, or touched at times.

Hope that someone out there is still waiting, destined for us, no matter what age we may be.

KUMAGCOW

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Gerald Anderson and Arci Muñoz for Always Be My Maybe

It's another romantic comedy film this time from Star Cinema, with a different combination as this is the first pairing of Gerald Anderson and Arci Muñoz. It's a story of two people who gave up on love and later finding out they actually might be the ones falling in love too. 

Jake played by Gerald Anderson just got dumped by his girlfriend of 6 years. He proposed and got rejected, something that really hurt him the most. Tin-tin on the other hand (played by Arci Muñoz) just got off a no strings attached, no label relationship. She found out later on that he got back with his greatest love, one that she couldn't imagine happening. It did hurt her, a lot in fact, she couldn't even function normally. That's where they agreed to move on together, hopefully with a make believe relationship, but what if they suddenly fall in love?

The cast also includes Nikki Valdez, Carlo Aquino, TJ Trinidad, Kakai Bautista, Matt Evans, Jane Oineza and Mr. Tirso Cruz III. This is also directed by Dan Villegas who did blockbuster movies "Walang Forever", English Only Please and The Breakup Playlist among others. This is showing on February 24, 2016 and is under Star Cinema.

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Jake Vargas, Bea Binene Topbills "Liwanag Sa Dilim"

They say this is the penultimate Teen adventure movie of the year, it's "Liwanag sa Dilim". Directed by Richard Somes, this will be in the line of films he's done like Corazon, Shake Rattle and Roll, and the likes, under the production of APT Entertainment. During the presscon, we had Dante Rivero, Igi Boy Flores, Sarah Lahbati and reel lovers Jhake Vargas and Bea Binene. This has been in the works for some time now and it's going to bank not just on the story but in the JaBea love team who's got stern supporters for years now.

"The reason why we bought the song of Rico Blanco and Rivermaya was because it was a hit during the time it came out.  It's all about taking responsibility, how to live like a teenager and how to live in harmony with your peers. It's a coming of age film and as a film maker, I miss this kind of stories and how they grew up as individuals and as persons. We hope to meet the characters standards so we got the perfect people to play it." says Direk Richard Somes.

Bea and Jake was put on the spot during the interviews, and the press kept asking about their relationship. It looks like the rumors about them splitting up isn't true according to the couple. After a few  more questions more, it looked like they are... And they're just saying they are "just okay". They are going through something right now just like any other pair, but they're hoping to fix it. This is their third movie together and there's pressure since they are doing lead roles. They are hoping that the support of everyone would be more than their previous movies. It's the best they say and you're going to have a lot of things to discover in this movie.

"We had a lot of things experienced during the filming of this movie and it even made us gel a lot better with Igi and the rest of the cast." says Jake Vargas. 

Sarah Lahbati says "Actually they were asking me about the adjustments I did to shoot this film, even if I had to have three cups of coffee when it's around 9pm, I'm still okay because I'm still young. So all in all, it wasn't so hard."

Igi Boy Flores says "It's new, a new set of friends, it didn't matter to me after a few days. It was like we already knew each other and it just happen to be that we're from different stations. But pretty much we're all good. I hope both stations would be able to support our film, we need it." 

"It wasn't hard to make the movie work because you just need to tweak it a little. I've seen how Jake took real good care of Bea, and so did Bea take care of Jake. I didn't really get to have any hard time working with them as I've seen, it was always natural." adds Direk Richard Somes.

The film "Liwanag Sa Dilim" will be shown this February 11 and is produced by APT Entertainment. Be ready to be scared, adventurous and be in love once it goes out on theaters real soon!

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Sarah Geronimo and John Lloyd Cruz: It Takes A Man and A Woman

Do you still remember the time you fell in love?

I do.

Do you remember watching the first ever John Lloyd and Sarah Geronimo movie?

Yes, you are right! It's A Very Special Love!

How about the second one?

You are correct! It Takes A Man and A Woman! =)

Then after a few years of not seeing them... you just found out that they suddenly end up in SPLITSVILLE!

OH NO MIGGY MONTENEGRO AND LAIDA MAGTALAS ARE NO MORE?? OMG OMG!

Fear not because this time, they are going to try it once again in this film called

IT TAKES A MAN AND A WOMAN!

We were there in the Grand Press Conference and had first dibs on the stars walking down the red carpet!

An Afternoon with Richard Gutierrez and Marian Rivera: My Lady Boss

Have you ever experienced that time when you just get pissed at someone because they meddle too much at work or at school? Don't you just want to quit but you can't because you kinda need it too? Did you ever had that time where you wanted to just do a task but you had to work with someone you really really don't like? You have gambled too much in businesses but failed and needed to work, but the person you needed to work with is someone you also wanted to hate; then end up really liking her because she's so beautiful? Oh... is that what it's all about?! =)

A good looking Richard Gutierrez sat down with us a week ago and started to tell us about his character in this upcoming film My Lady Boss. He says it has been eagerly awaited by fans and he knows it should have been done years ago but it has been put aside because of other pressing shows that he had to do. He also told the press that this should have been his directorial project because he also wanted to work behind the camera. He was so happy to have been able to work with the one and only Marian Rivera on this project. Their previous one did really well in the box office and he didn't know why it took this long for them to team up again. In this film he plays the role of Zack, a rich guy who hails from a good family of businessmen. He wanted to be a very independent so he sought to always put up businesses but unfortunately he always fails. Then he gets to start off on a clean slate one last time by working with Marian Rivera's character Evelyn in the movie. He wanted this to be his legacy but it has proven to be very difficult because Evelyn won't go down to his standards..  

If she wants to, she can change personalities to fit the role she's playing. Talented and so beautiful in person, Marian Rivera was someone I never thought I would meet in this lifetime. She's not that tall but oozing with confidence. She was shouting at the press like she missed them for so long, she treated everyone like long lost friends. She even mentioned specific articles that they wrote because it looks like Marian reads it. It was definitely something that I would never expect from her; she was down to earth and even very playful at times.

She says she was so glad to have had the chance to work with Richard and had the same sentiments about them not having a project together since their last one. Marian says Richard was a gentleman, never took advantage of her nor was she given too hard of a task in getting comfortable with him. When I asked about their first impressions with each other Marian thought Richard was "Mayabang and matapobre" but it turned out quite the opposite of that because right from the first day she was spoiled by Richard. No, actually the whole cast and crew was spoiled with Richard as she was often asked what she wants to eat or how comfortable she is the whole time of the shoot.Richard she says is naturally sweet and this reunion of their team up after years of planning has been something they look forward to. Now that they have the schedule and time to work on this movie, they assure viewers that My Lady Boss would be one of the best romantic comedies ever seen in Philippine cinema.

When asked about who her inspiration was in playing the role of Evelyn, she immediately mentioned her Grandmother because she knew how exactly she would have dressed and all the mannerisms that came with it. She was quite familiar on how to execute this particular role because her family is quite similar on how strict, how conservative and how mataray she had to be in this movie. Marian was even suggesting headlines on the above photo that's why she was laughing profusely while being interviewed by the press.

When asked about their Valentines day plans, Marian bursted into laughter because she said "Amin lang yun, akin lang yung araw na yun.. wala namang plans kasi diba dapat lalaki nagpaplano nun? Sa amin lang yung February 14th" she insists. I'm sure Dingdong has lots of plans for her. =)

Richard on the other hand is always communicating with Sarah. They will continue to do so and see where their story goes. No details on their plans but I'm sure Richard has something up his sleeve.

The press was a little worried about seeing Marian getting rushed to the hospital (a few days ago before this interview) and her condition was not really a joke. The doctor had her on a neck brace but decided later on to remove it because Marian admittedly says she's too "Malikot and Kangkarot" so it was useless to have it on. She was also not allowed to work and instructed to have complete bed rest. She says she can't do that so the doctor agreed to have her work on a strict and limited time. They still have a lot of shooting days and a couple more for post processing. My Lady Boss has no play date yet but I've heard from the grapevine that it would probably fall after holy week. Marian Rivera thanked the staff and crew who was really worried for her and really takes care of her while working on the film She says she was so touched at how everyone showed concern over her condition but says she'll be alright. The doctor even says that in her condition, Marian is so strong. She doesn't complain that much and always follows his orders. If it were other patients she could have given up easily because the pain is actually excruciating. She's a very strong gal. She's bubbly and really so charming to meet in person. She looks at you directly when asked a question. I like her. I'm sure you would too so please do watch My Lady Boss as soon as it comes out of theaters. This is produced by GMA Films and Regal Films. 

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