World War II Action Drama FURY Now Showing

AMERICA’S BOX-OFFICE WINNER AND NUMBER 1 FILM “FURY” NOW SHOWING IN (PHILIPPINES) CINEMAS

               The World War II action drama “Fury” that recently landed number one at the North American box-office at $23.5 million debut starring Academy Award Winner Brad Pitt is now showing nationwide in the Philippines.

               “Fury” puts together a winning cast along with Pitt, a squadron of fearless soldiers in a Sherman tank called Fury – Shia LaBeouf, Michael Pena, Jason Isaacs, Jon Bernthal and Logan Lerman.  The movie brings these American soldiers to German territory during the last days and bastion of World War II.    

                Rotten Tomatoes, worldwide online reference when it comes to movies reflects an 80% score among critics with an overall consensus that the movie is a well-acted, suitably raw depiction of the horrors of war that offers visceral battle scenes. 

               The intensity of the screenplay that "Fury" director David Ayer wrote for Fury has become his hallmark, but the movie, like his screenplays for Training Day, The Fast and theFurious, and other films, also demonstrates a deep connection between the characters.  “David’s movies are visceral and real, but they’re also deeply about brotherly love and friendship in the most extreme circumstances,” says producer Bill Block.

               Details of the tankers’ memories come alive in Fury– for example, that every fifth bullet from the machine gun is a tracer; that there are so many tracers that the heat can melt the barrel; that the difference between outgoing and incoming artillery is the incoming’s telltale whistle; that the outgunned Sherman tanks could find ways to use their exceptional mobility against the Germans’ mighty Tiger tanks.  It’s these details that make the film feel true-to-life.

               “Veteran accounts are hugely important, because they bring it to life,” says David Rae, one of the military technical advisors on the film.  “They give you the actual ground truth of how a crew fought through different theaters – through Normandy, North Africa, through the low countries, and finally to Germany, that final push.  They give you interesting stories that you can grab hold of and emotionally attach yourself to.”

               There were five main tanks used for filming, all various models of the M4 Sherman tank: in the film, the tanks are nicknamed Fury, Matador, Lucy Sue, Old Phyllis, and Murder Inc. 

               To populate the tank crews, Dowdall says, “We thought that the best thing would be to use trained tank crews – not collectors, but guys who’d been to Afghanistan and other combat situations recently.  They could not only command the tanks properly, but think on their feet if something went wrong with one of these seventy-year-old vehicles.”   For the Fury herself, there were three main vehicles used by the production.  First, naturally, was a real tank, supplied by the Bovington Tank Museum, a late-war Sherman with a 76mm gun. 

               The tank – which was a rolling set that had to be dressed and maintained as a picture vehicle every day – also became a second home of sorts for the actors who portray its crew.  “When they had boot camp, they were taught to live outside;later, when Fury became available to them, we couldn’t really get them out of it,” says Tank Crew Supervisor Jim Dowdall.  “They put their own stamp on it.  They began to live and to eat inside it.  Between rehearsals, instead of getting off the tank, they just hunkered down inside and talked and lived like a tank crew would.  I think that shows in the movie – there’s a familiarity.”

               Jon Bernthal – like all of the actors – became very attached to the Fury.  “They say it ain’t the size of the dog in a fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.  She’s a badass tank,” he says, describing the tank.  “She’s not the biggest, not the strongest – you should see the Tiger! – but she’s all heart.”

               Adds Logan Lerman: “Seeing the tanks up and running, these seventy-year-old vehicles – it was a beautiful sight.” 

               Over the course of the 24 fateful hours wherein the movie takes place, the actors' training will be tested as their roles as the five men of the Fury – Wardaddy (Pitt), the commander; Boyd Swan (LaBeouf), the gunner; Grady Travis (Bernthal), the loader; Trini Garcia (Pena), the driver; and Norman (Lerman), the assistant driver – take on 300 enemy German troops in a desperate battle for survival. 

               "Fury" is now showing at a theater near you!

THE COUNSELOR Character Posters

Legendary filmmaker Ridley Scott and Pulitzer Prize winning author Cormac McCarthy (“No Country for Old Men”) have joined forces in the motion picture thriller “The Counselor,” starring Michael Fassbender, Penélope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Javier Bardem, and Brad Pitt.  McCarthy, making his screenwriting debut and Scott interweave the author’s characteristic wit and dark humor with a nightmarish scenario, in which a respected lawyer’s one-time dalliance with an illegal business deal spirals out of control.

                “The Counselor” is a cautionary tale about mistakenly tempting fate.  Rounding off this tale are people who get involved in something they should have stayed out but are eventually lured into a world where immense amount of cash can be quickly handed in a very dangerous way.

                Revealed are the latest online character posters of “The Counselors” assembled to portray unforgettable characters – damaged goods yet attractive who have all ducked in unexpected moments of thrill and humor.

             

Michael Fassbender is simply known as The Counselor tempted to try for once an illegal way of amassing a large amount of money instantly. Although he’s received numerous warnings about the potential dangers of getting into this deal, his blind arrogance deafened him of those warnings.

                Laura, played by Penélope Cruz is the fiancée of The Counselor.  Laura is a beautiful woman whom The Counselor prizes the most.  Her intelligence and foresight – and her love for The Counselor – are no match for his descent into the rabbit hole, and they both face tragic consequences if the deal he has made with unseen, powerful forces, goes south.

STELLAR CAST AS DAMAGED GOODS IN “THE COUNSELOR”

Probably this year’s jaw-dropping crime thriller so far, “The Counselor” is both an amazing and devastating cautionary tale about greed helmed by no less than Academy-Award nominee director/producer Ridley Scott (“Alien,” Black Hawk Down,” “Prometheus,” “Hannibal”) and written by Pulitzer-Prize winner Cormac McCarthy who recent novels “All The Pretty Horses,” “No Country for Old Men,” “The Road” and “Child of God” have all been made into acclaimed major motion pictures.

                 Filled with a sterling cast headed by Michael Fassbender in the titular role, “The Counselor”  also stars Academy-Award winning couple Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz along with acclaimed blockbuster stars Brad Pitt and Cameron Diaz.

Best Picture Nominee "MONEYBALL" Soon in Philippine Cinemas

Nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Actor, Columbia Pictures’ critically acclaimed sports-oriented film “Moneyball” is based on the true story of Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) – once a would-be baseball superstar who, stung by the failure to live up to expectations on the field, turned his fiercely competitive nature to management.

Directed by Bennett Miller (“Capote”), “Moneyball” also bagged nominations for Best Supporting Actor (Jonah Hill), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editing and Best Sound Mixing.
In 2003, former Salomon Brothers bond trader turned author Michael Lewis, at the time best known for such business and politics bestsellers as Liar’s Poker and The New New Thing, published a book about baseball. Only it wasn’t just about baseball. On the surface, it was about how the under-funded, underrated Oakland A’s took on an unfair system of big-money and powerhouse teams. But it was really about the fascinating mix of men behind a major cultural shift and how a risky vision, born from necessity, becomes reality, when a ragtag team of cast-offs rejected due to unfounded biases, get the chance to finally prove their potential.


Now, Lewis’s book has been adapted into a feature film, “Moneyball,” starring Brad Pitt as Billy Beane, the A’s General Manager – the man who would have to think differently and reinvent the rules if his team was going to compete. “Moneyball is a classic underdog story,” says Pitt, who also serves as a producer of the project. “They go up against the system. How are they going to survive, how are they going to compete? Even if they do groom good talent, that talent gets poached by the big-market, big-money teams. And what these guys decided was, they couldn’t fight the other guy’s fight, or they were going to lose. They had to re-examine everything, to look for new knowledge, to find some kind of justice.”

Brad Pitt is Best Actor in MONEYBALL

The New York Film Ciritics Circle (NYFC) has just chosen Brad Pitt as this year's Best Actor for his soul-searching performance in Columbia Pictures' baseball drama, “Moneyball.”  The award catapults Pitt as a veritable contender for more  acting trophies come awards season this coming February.

            In his review of the film, critic Richard Corliss of Time Magazine, writes “Brad Pitt does sensational work...he exudes pure movie-star authority...His performance is a canny portrait of leadership — part genius, part crazy guts, part dumb luck — and worthy of moving Pitt up to the playoff round of Oscar finalists for Best Actor. We'd put money on it.”

            The NYFC also gave Best Screenplay honors to writers Aaron Sorkin (“The Social Network”) and Steven Zaillian (“Schindler's List”) for their work on “Moneyball” which they adapted from the non-fiction book by Michael Lewis.

Happy Feet 2 Steps up in IMAX 3D on Nov. 23

The adorable peguins of the Academy Award®-winning animated smash hit “Happy Feet” is back! The animated spectacle, Happy Feet Two, returns audiences to the magnificent landscape of Antarctica in superb 3D.

In the film, Mumble, The Master of Tap, has a problem because his tiny son, Erik, is choreo-phobic. Reluctant to dance, Erik runs away and encounters The Mighty Sven—a penguin who can fly! Mumble has no hope of competing with this charismatic new role model. But things get worse when the world is shaken by powerful forces. Erik learns of his father’s “guts and grit” as Mumble brings together the penguin nations and all manner of fabulous creatures—from tiny Krill to giant Elephant Seals—to put things right.

"Climate change is why we're doing this movie now," Miller says. "The desert we wanted to shoot in in Australia? It's covered in flowers." The first film, a 2006 surprise hit at $190 million, was initially to be shot in 3-D, Miller says. "But we simply ran out of time. This one is shot in 3-D, and the landscapes we could create are just spectacular."

The movie, starring the voices of Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Robin Williams and Elijah Wood as rug-cutter Mumble, centers on Mumble being a new father while still navigating the perilous ice world around him, which is melting frighteningly fast. Director George Miller wasn't looking to make back-to-back cartoons about the environmentally fragile residents of Antarctica. But Mother Nature can be a wicked executive producer, Miller has learned.