The Boys Are Back in "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows"

The young actors who played the Turtles via performance-capture in the 2014 hit film return in the eagerly anticipated sequel “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows” opening June 1 in Philippine cinemas.

Reprising their roles are Pete Ploszek as Leonardo, the stoic, disciplined leader of the foursome; Alan Ritchson as Raphael, the hot-headed rebel; Jeremy Howard as Donatello, the tech-savvy inventor; and Noel Fisher as irrepressible, fun-loving, Michelangelo, who longs to live the life of a human teenager.

"Ninja Turtles" Break "Out of the Shadows" in IMAX Theaters June 1st‏

Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies and IMAX Corporation announced recently that “TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS,” the latest installment in the blockbuster franchise, will be digitally re-mastered into the immersive IMAX® format and released in all IMAX® 3D theaters across the Philippines beginning June 1st (simultaneous with its bow in 2D and 3D cinemas).  

Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo return to theaters this summer in “TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS” to battle bigger, badder villains alongside April O’Neil (Megan Fox), Vern Fenwick (Will Arnett), and a newcomer: the hockey-masked vigilante Casey Jones (Stephen Amell). After super villain Shredder (Brian Tee) escapes custody, he joins forces with mad scientist Baxter Stockman (Tyler Perry) and two dimwitted henchmen, Bebop (Gary Anthony Williams) and Rocksteady (WWE Superstar “Sheamus”), to unleash a diabolical plan to take over the world. As the Turtles prepare to take on Shredder and his new crew, they find themselves facing an even greater evil with similar intentions: the notorious Krang.

"Star Trek Beyond" Beams Up Five Posters‏

Paramount Pictures' third installment of the J.J. Abrams-produced "Star Trek” film franchise has gone above and “Beyond" for four of its characters, giving them their own individual one-sheets, in addition to a new international teaser poster. The film opens across the Philippines on July 20.

Getting the star treatment are new character Jaylah (Sofia Boutella) and returning favorites Spock (Zachary Quinto), Bones (Karl Urban) and Chekov (Anton Yelchin).

The highly anticipated next installment in the globally popular Star Trek franchise, created by Gene Roddenberry and reintroduced by J.J. Abrams in 2009, returns with director Justin Lin (“The Fast and the Furious” franchise) at the helm of this epic voyage of the U.S.S. Enterprise and her intrepid crew. In “Beyond," the Enterprise crew explores the furthest reaches of uncharted space, where they encounter a mysterious new enemy who puts them and everything the Federation stands for to the test.

The new trailer for “Star Trek Beyond” has been unveiled by Paramount Pictures and may be viewed at https://youtu.be/GbgHyd5vuyM.

"Star Trek Beyond," the highly anticipated next installment in the globally popular Star Trek franchise, created by Gene Roddenberry and reintroduced by J.J. Abrams in 2009, returns with director Justin Lin (“The Fast and the Furious” franchise) at the helm of this epic voyage of the U.S.S. Enterprise and her intrepid crew. In “Beyond," the Enterprise crew explores the furthest reaches of uncharted space, where they encounter a mysterious new enemy who puts them and everything the Federation stands for to the test.

Fil-Am Stunt Experts Choreograph Fight Scenes in "Ninja Turtles 2"

Action is the operative word when it comes to the four brother Turtles, but the filmmakers of “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows” are careful to intersperse every skirmish with humor.

"Fun energy," as director Dave Green likes to call it. "It's important that the audience feels that the Turtles are always in danger," he says. "But at the most serious or scary moments, we often have a joke to punctuate that moment just to give you relief from the tension. Jojo is brilliant at that."

Green is referring to Filipino-American stunt coordinator Jonathan Eusebio, known on set as Jojo, who designed the fight scenes for the 2014 film. This time around, he brought fellow Fil-Am veteran multi-martial artist Jon Valera to help in training and articulating much of the action in the film.

"Ninja Turtles 2" Highlights "Arrow's" Stephen Amell in Casey Jones Clip‏

“Arrow” superhero Stephen Amell plays the hockey masked vigilante Casey Jones in Paramount Pictures' action-adventure sequel “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows” in cinemas across the Philippines on June 01.

Check out the newly-released “Casey Jones” clip at http://youtu.be/7IWfAUNUs6g

Michelangelo, Donatello, Leonardo, and Raphael return to Philippine cinemas this season in “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows” to battle bigger, badder villains, alongside April O’Neil (Megan Fox), Vern Fenwick (Will Arnett), and a newcomer: the hockey-masked vigilante Casey Jones (Stephen Amell).

Fimmel, Cooper, Foster: Three Heroes of "Warcraft: The Beginning"

Three of today's most compelling actors – Travis Fimmel (TV's “Vikings”), Dominic Cooper (TV's “Preacher,” “Captain America: The First Avenger”) and Ben Foster (“X-Men: The Last Stand”) lead the charge of Azeroth heroes in Universal Pictures and Legendary Pictures' “Warcraft: The Beginning” (in Philippine cinemas May 25).

In the human world of Azeroth, the pivotal role of the valiant Commander Anduin Lothar is assumed by Australian actor Travis Fimmel, well known for his portrayal of Ragnar in the blockbuster series “Vikings.”

Intergalactic Adventure For The Whole Family In “RATCHET AND CLANK”

The latest out-of-this-world family movie “Ratchet and Clank” stars Award winning Sylvester Stallone along with a talented voice cast including Paul Giamatti, John Goodman, Bella Thorne, Rosario Dawson, Jim Ward, James Taylor and David Kaye. 

In “Ratchet and Clank,” two unlikely heroes struggle to stop a vile villain named Chairman Drek from destroying every planet in the Solana Galaxy.  Ratchet is the last of his kind, a foolhardy “Lombax” who has grown up alone on a backwater planet with no family of his own.  Clank is a pint-sized robot with more brains than brawn.  When the two stumble upon a dangerous weapon capable of destroying entire planets, they must join forces with a team of colourful heroes called the Galactic Rangers in order to save the galaxy.  Along the way, the will learn about heroism, friendship, and the importance of discovering one’s own identity.

Ratchet, voiced by James Taylor, is the only Lombax anyone has ever seen.  A typical impulsive teenager, Ratchet is a gifted mechanic and quite acrobatic.    When danger calls he prefers to jump in feet first and to figure things out as he goes.  His confidence always leads him into trouble but his quick reflexes and agile mind get him out of it most of the time.He is a bit of a loner, not wanting to rely on anyone but himself.   However, he is extremely loyal to friends that he has.  Over the course of the film, he comes to consider Clank his one true ally and closest friend. 

Compare Orcs & Their Actors in "Warcraft: The Beginning"

In Universal Pictures and Legendary Pictures' “Warcraft: The Beginning,” the filmmakers went back into the past to introduce the origins of Warcraft and then took a giant step forward with their use of special effects, computer generated imagery, and motion capture technology to tell that story in the most believable way.

(Watch the featurette on ILM Visual Effects at http://youtu.be/jak3WXZZlVo.)

By bringing Academy Award®-winning visual effects supervisor Bill Westenhofer onto the project, not only were they collaborating with one of the very best in the business but, fortuitously, he was already a devoted player of the game.

By far the biggest challenge for director Duncan Jones, Westenhofer and their team was the orcs. Of the more than 2,000 visual effects shots created, almost 1,300 shots involved these hulking warriors.

The Warcraft story is one of human versus orc, with each side having its protagonist and antagonist. At the outset, the filmmakers knew that these seven-to-eight foot, 500 pound creatures would have to be digital. But they wanted the audience to be able to see the same caliber of performance from them as from the humans. To do that, humans and orcs had to be filmed together, and that meant the tremendous challenge of pushing state-of-the-art motion capture technology to an entirely new level.

Devout Gamer Duncan Jones Directs "Warcraft: The Beginning"‏

Finding the perfect storyteller to direct “Warcraft: The Beginning” proved to be so much easier than the producers first imagined. Best known for his BAFTA award-winning masterpiece “Moon,” as well as the twist-a-minute “Source Code,” director Duncan Jones had another valuable asset to bring to the table: his intimate understanding and deeply personal love for the game.

The son of the late music legend, David Bowie, Duncan Jones is a devout gamer and World of Warcraft player for many years. The filmmaker admits he was very excited about the prospect of a Warcraft film long before he was considered to direct it. Given the opportunity to meet with Blizzard and reveal his alternate approach, he recalls: “If you’re a player of the game, you know that part of its appeal is that you can be a hero, no matter what side you’re on. So my pitch was that the film should mirror that; it should be a war movie, one which shows the heroes on both sides and treats them with equal respect.”

Playstation's Iconic “RATCHET AND CLANK” Now A Movie To Open In Local Cinemas On May 26

One of the long-running PlayStation video game series of all time, “Ratchet and Clank” steps out of the console and springs to life in a CG-animated movie of the same title that will open on May 25 in local cinemas nationwide.

“Ratchet and Clank” is based on the iconic PlayStation video game where two unlikely heroes Ratchet (voiced by James Arnold Taylor) and Clank (David Kaye) struggle to stop a vile villain named Chairman Drek (Paul Giamatti) from destroying every planet in the Solana Galaxy.  Ratchet is the last of his kind, a foolhardy “Lombax” who has grown up alone on a backwater planet with no family of his own.  Clank is a pint-sized robot with more brains than brawn.  When the two stumble upon a dangerous weapon capable of destroying entire planets, they must join forces with a team of colourful heroes called the Galactic Rangers in order to save the galaxy.  Along the way, the will learn about heroism, friendship, and the importance of discovering one’s own identity.

Most Visually Ambitios Cinematic Experience In “X-MEN: APOCALYPSE” ON MAY 18

Set a decade after the events of “X-Men: Days of Future Past,”  the latest “X-Men: Apocalypse” that will open on May 18 in Philippine cinemas finds the mutants in 1983 living their own lives. Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) has his school for gifted youngsters up and running, and has some promising new students he’s guiding as they figure out their lives. Erik “Magneto” Lensherr (Michael Fassbender) is living a quiet family life in Poland, while Raven (Jennifer Lawrence) is eschewing her mutant side, worried that humanity still doesn’t completely accept them. Their world is thrown into chaos when an incredibly powerful, ancient mutant named Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac) awakens and decides that the world has taken a turn for the worse and decides to destroy civilization and create it again in his own image.

Jennifer Lawrence Back In Battle As Mystique In “X-MEN: APOCALYPSE”

It has been 10 years since the heroes of “X-Men: Days Of Future Past” saved humanity and themselves from threats within and without. Now, in “X-Men: Apocalypse,” things are – at least for people like Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) – a little more settled. Humanity is aware of the mutants living among them and relations have been, for the most part, peaceful. But all that changes when the ancient, incredibly powerful mutant known as Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac) awakens in the early 1980s and begins to destroy the world as we know it, convinced that he can create civilization again the way he thinks it should be. With Bryan Singer once more directing, “X-Men: Apocalypse” promises a huge global adventure and another thrilling mission for the world’s favorite mutants.

The world of 1983 also has undergone upheavals in the treatment of mutants.  This next stage of human evolution is now accepted by most—but not all—of humanity, thanks to the heroism of Raven/Mystique, who (as seen in “X-Men: Days of Future Past”) prevented the assassination of the U.S. president and a war between mutants and humans. 

Comic World Mourns The Loss of Darwyn Cooke

It was another sad day for comics with the passing of the Eisner award winning Canadian comic book writer, artist, cartoonist and animator, Darwyn Cooke (November 16, 1962 – May 14, 2016), who was known for his contributions for the industry especially to DC Comics. His death was due to complications of cancer that his wife describes as "aggressive". Comic book fans all over the world showed sadness with the news.

Global Phenomenon "Warcraft" Takes Flight‏

Since its inception, more than 100 million players have experienced the dazzling and compelling mythology that is the global phenomenon known as World of Warcraft.

(Watch the International Trailer 2 of “Warcraft: The Beginning” at http://youtu.be/mWJ5cX4XdTw.)

Warcraft: Orcs and Humans, created by Blizzard Entertainment in 1994, was a breakthrough smash success that served as the first chapter in a trilogy that, for many fans, redefined the real-time strategy genre. The second and third, Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness and Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, further stoked fascination and imagination in its players, as did the best-selling novels and other popular merchandise.

But it was the fourth title in the series that was, literally, the game changer.