The World is Yellow

My Rachel McAdams Interview

2012-02-10T14:38:00.000-08:00

Rachel McAdams on loving with heart and brain
By Raymond de Asis Lo, L.A. Correspondent (The Philippine Star) Updated February 10, 2012 12:00 AM Comments (0)

Rachel with co-star Channing Tatum (left) in a scene from the new romantic drama.
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MANILA, Philippines - “Are you in love with the idea of someone? Or are you in love with the fight more than the outcome?” Rachel McAdams posed this rhetorical question during our recent interview with her at the junket for the new romantic drama The Vow, which opens in theaters today.

The Vow tells the moving love story of a couple whose relationship had to endure a very difficult test when the wife lost all her memory of the husband after a tragic accident. Rachel portrays Paige, the wife, while hunky Channing Tatum, who is transitioning into an A-List actor, plays her devoted husband Leo.

The heart of the story is the struggle that Channing’s character had to go through in trying to win back the affection and love of his wife who sees him as nothing but a stranger. “I think the hardest thing about this is that ultimately no matter what you do the other person who’s lost their memory — it has to be their idea,” Rachel explained. She also noted that after researching for her role and after talking with experts on memory loss, she believes that “even if all your memories are erased, you will find your way back.”

Rachel, who was stunning in the royal blue dress she wore to the junket, added, “There’s this kernel of truth inside of you, no matter what happens to you, that you can connect with and that extends to the people that you connect to in life.”

In real life, her love life has a more ordinariness to it. Thankfully. No memory loss to worry about, just the occasional paparazzi and the curious questions posed by journalists.

The beautiful actress, who has previously dated Ryan Gosling and is now in a relationship with British actor Michael Sheen, is known to be very reserved and private in real life so our interview with her was markedly different from our session with Channing.

While Channing was a little more candid and forthcoming — and no particular topic was off-limits to him, his The Vow co-star was more scant with the information she wanted to share with us during our roundtable interview.

This limitation opened up the roundtable to the more interesting and serious subject of the psychology of love and of falling in love that the movie brings up — and Rachel’s thoughts and ideas turned out to be just as fascinating.

Consider these questions:

Don’t people fall in love with their hearts and not with their brain?

If one meets a stranger then falls in love in the process, why can’t someone who lost her memory fall in love again with the same person even if that person is nothing but a stranger yet again? Can’t she teach herself to fall in love again?

These are some of the philosophical questions that Rachel happily shared her ideas about.

“Because there’s so much pressure to remember,” she replied to the latter question. “That clouds your ability to just be with the person. That clouds your ability to just go on and have nice easy, breezy dates and get to know each other again. There’s so much pressure. There’s so much disappointment.”

She cited one line in the movie when Paige, her character, said to Leo in surrender: “I am so tired of disappointing you and I can’t look into your eyes and see how much I’m hurting you anymore.”

When asked if she thinks it is easier for someone to fall in love with a complete stranger than with someone whom the person had a history with but can’t remember, she finished the question, supplied the last word and immediately responded, “Absolutely!”

“(The Vow) brings up a lot of interesting ideas about fate and destiny and who you are if you don’t have your memory,” she added.

But, all memories intact, can she fall in love again with the same person with whom she has fallen out of love before?

“Well, yeah. I think, in that case, you have these ties that bind, you have the past that tells you, that informs whether you can maybe make it work or not,” she replied before breaking into a short smile and said, “It’s funny how we have selective memories about those things. You break it off and then you come back and it becomes totally different than the first time. It’s selective amnesia!”

And back to the first question, does she love with her heart or with her brain?

“I think it’s both, isn’t it?” she replied but was already holding herself from cracking up because the interview has turned a bit cheesy. “I love cheesy!” she declared before she started laughing the sweet laugh that has endeared her to so many movie fans all over the world.

Our roundtable interview was punctuated by occasional bursts of laughter over some of the more philosophical and cheesier questions except for one awkward moment when one journalist from Israel dared to ask her about Michael. And how Rachel responded to the question was very cute: She just smiled.

Rachel met Michael on the set of Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris. They have been together ever since.

Before we let Rachel go, we had to ask her one last cheesy question that some of the more romantic people would rather believe — and her reply was a real surprise.

Could it be true that, even if we try, we can only love one person in our lifetime?

“I think that you can fall in love with maybe not hundreds of people but a handful and there is one that you want to really do that for a very long time with,” she offered and ended the interview with a smile, leaving us taken by her gentleness and charm, much like how her characters in movies usually win the heart of the men they love.

My Channing Tatum Interview

2012-02-10T14:35:00.000-08:00

The daring, baring Channing
By Raymond de Asis Lo, L.A. Correspondent (The Philippine Star) Updated February 06, 2012 12:00 AM Comments (1)

Channing Tatum (with Rachel McAdams in The Vow) is so secure with his masculinity that he can talk about his life and even his private part.
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“I did not prank anyone! No, no!” Channing Tatum declared when asked to provide more details about one particularly naughty prank he pulled on the set of his new movie The Vow during last week’s junket in Beverly Hills.

“The swinging pinky d--k?” he asked. “That’s amazing, who told you that?” He was laughing and shaking his head at the same time after we pressed him for details.

The hunky actor, who is enjoying a hot streak in Hollywood at the moment, strapped on a fake penis during a scene that called for him to stand naked in front of co-star Rachel McAdams and started jiggling the extra appendage to annoy her.

The prank did not annoy Rachel but instead amused everyone on the set including the director who patiently waited for things to settle down before filming the scene. In the movie, however, only the actor’s naked backside is shown — but female fans of the sexy actor will definitely take delight in the movie because there are quite a few scenes where he takes off his clothes and bares his chiseled body.

Channing is so secure with his masculinity that he can talk about his past, his career and personal life — and his private part (fake or not) with nary a hesitation or much fanfare. Details magazine once featured an entire article about how he burned his private part while filming an action movie two years ago. He even had pictures of the burnt body part on his mobile phone that he showed to the writer who interviewed him for the story.

Today, the actor is talking less about any body part but more about his hot career, his new movie with Rachel and his upcoming movie with director Steven Soderbergh that’s rumored to be based on the period in his life when he stripped for a living — “I am not really happy to talk about it but I am open about it. I think it’s hilarious. It truly was a ridiculous part of my life.”

Screen Gems’ The Vow is an endearing new movie about love, devotion and sacrifice inspired by a real-life story of a couple who had to endure the most difficult test of their lives when the wife partially lost her memory after a terrible car accident and failed to recognize the very same man she vowed to love all her life.

The movie traces the story after this accident and how Channing’s character Leo tries to win back Rachel’s Paige. The narrative addresses those “impact” moments in everyone’s life when a sudden event plunges us to a new direction and purpose in life and forces us to examine the relationships we have built and the amount of sacrifice we are willing to offer for someone we love.

Channing, 30, is happily married to actress Jenna Dewan in real life and their love story, though it may not directly mirror the love story in The Vow, is just as inspiring and romantic.

But Channing’s part of the story does not start here. It starts miles away from Hollywood, in a small Mississippi town where he grew up not dreaming of becoming an actor.

“I was so defined by sports all my life,” he said. He described himself as a jock before he made the realization that he didn’t want to have anything to do with sports anymore. “I didn’t even want to go to school.” He spent some time trying odd jobs including becoming a stripper before a “creepy guy” (his words) approached him in Florida if he had representation. “I didn’t even know what representation meant,” he revealed.

With no previous experience in acting but armed with his good looks and determination, Channing found himself being cast in several ad campaigns for Armani and Abercrombie & Fitch, among others, and before long he was already doing bit parts in music videos and small movies. And it was when he moved to Hollywood that he finally discovered what it was that he really wanted in life. “I truly just fell in love. I will be doing this ‘til I am dead, until I can’t do it anymore.”

The biggest break, or “impact” moment, in his life came when he did 2006’s Step Up. The movie accelerated his ascent to the top in Hollywood and it also introduced him to his future wife, Jenna.

Unlike other stars, who are so guarded about their personal lives, Channing did let us in on a few bits and pieces about his life with Jenna and how he is working hard every day to make their marriage last.

“When I jump, I jump. I am all in,” he declared. “I think loving somebody and caring for somebody is the same thing. I think it’s just a different way of expressing yourself. It’s one of those things where I don’t think it’s hard to show somebody that you care for them.”

“Write ‘I Love You’ and hide it in a place where it’s hard to find. Don’t worry if she finds it or not. Just hide a bunch of stuff everywhere. That takes 10 minutes to hide a bunch of papers around the house — it’s not that hard.”
Channing’s marriage survives because he and his wife give themselves only two to four weeks away from each other before they really have to drop everything and see each other.

“There’s only so much you can do with Skype. I am not a good phone person. Every two weeks, no matter where we are, we try to see each other and she’s been so good about it. She has traveled more than I have. She’ll come in and hang out for 12 hours and get back on the plane, you know, because she’s busy and vice versa.”

Channing believes “that making time and being really aware of your connection” is the key to a strong relationship.

He also shared a little game that he regularly play with his wife to measure how much they love each other at a given time. He described it as: “It’s like ‘How much do you love me right now on a scale of 1 to 10? You have to be honest.’ And you really have to be honest because otherwise you say 10 but you don’t feel like a 10 and then you don’t get what you need to be a 10. And if you say five, then you are really annoying the s--t out of me. And you say ‘I am sorry’ because you don’t feel like you’ve done your job…”

His candidness slowed down only when we inquired what part of his character’s vow in the movie was lifted from his actual vow. “I would love to tell you guys because it actually meant a lot to me but I don’t really know if I want them out.” (Note: Channing did acknowledge that the vow that he recites in the movie contains portions of his actual wedding vow to his wife.)

To say that Channing is a charmer in person would be an understatement. The guy has an easy smile and he makes you feel like you are his friend. He will most likely gain more fans with The Vow and when his highly anticipated “stripper” flick called Magic Mike hits theaters later this year.

And, contrary to reports, Magic Mike, which he is producing, is not based on his stripping past. “Not a biopic. No. I am not gonna do a story of my life as a stripper. It has nothing to do with it,” he said, trying to shoot down the false rumor. “There is no event that actually happened in the movie that ever happened in my own life. The stuff that happened in my own life was crazier. That life was so weird, such a strange world.”

He may have had a strange past but Channing is in no way living a weird life now — crazy and exciting, yes, but certainly not weird.

(The Vow opens Feb. 10 in Metro theaters.)

My 2nd Leonardo Di Caprio Interview (J. Edgar)

2012-01-29T20:24:00.000-08:00

DiCaprio at his best in J. Edgar
By Raymond de Asis Lo, L.A. Correspondent (The Philippine Star) Updated January 23, 2012 12:00 AM Comments (0)

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MANILA, Philippines - Funny how this writer regularly find interesting tidbits of regular, random conversation between stars and their handlers when I review my recording before I start transcribing my interviews. The exchanges are mostly about the temperature of the room where the interviews are being held or whether the stars needed something before we start counting down the 30 minutes allotted to us. To my welcome surprise, my recorder offered me just that when I was reviewing the interview I had with Hollywood superstar Leonardo DiCaprio recently.

This writer met with the handsome actor sometime in November last year during the junket of his current movie, Warner Bros.’ J. Edgar, the acclaimed biopic directed by the legendary Clint Eastwood.

Ordinarily, we start running the recorder just as soon as we get notice that the star is on his way to join us in our interview suite. So, just as we were about to begin our interview, I started my recorder and it captured a brief but charming exchange between Leo and his handler just as he was settling in to his seat. The subject of the conversation was rather trivial but it offered something new to add to the list of things that make the actor really, really nice and likable in person.

The handler asked if he wanted a cappuccino instead of the regular coffee he brought with him. Leo initially said yes but later declined the offer. “I wish I had a cappuccino,” he said. “But actually I don’t want one. This is my fifth cup.” You know what made it really interesting? First, he was drinking the same coffee that everyone was drinking and, second, it was only 10 in the morning yet he already had five cups of coffee!

Leo is already in his mid-30s with few telltale signs of fine wrinkles up close yet, if one would listen closely to his voice when he speaks, one wouldn’t notice anything different to the Leo today and to the young actor who played Jack in Titanic 15 years ago. He still has that distinct voice and speaking style that’s a cross between an excitable young adult and an impatient adolescent.

Ask him anything and he will give you a lengthy but substantial response. He is famous for his utmost dedication to his craft and one can glean this trait when he starts talking about the current project he is doing or promoting.

J. Edgar, is based on the life of former FBI director J. Edgar Hoover who is considered by many as perhaps the most powerful and feared person in America during his time. The movie brings to light the true story of the enigmatic J. Edgar — from the creation of the FBI to his much-whispered homosexuality. Leo’s powerful and impassioned performance has garnered some of the best reviews of his career and he is expected to receive his fourth Oscar Best Actor nomination when the nominations are announced on Feb. 24 — but just don’t mention it to him.

“The truth is I have learned through my experiences in this industry that there is absolutely no way to control or do anything as far as people’s opinions on your performance or movie — and that is the truth,” he declared emphatically when asked about his Oscar chances. “You go out there and you promote your film and you hope people like the work that you did and they are gonna respond the way they are gonna respond when they are in the room with that ballot. Who knows? I am thankful that people are talking about it but ultimately, I truly have no control over it. I really don’t.”

Make no mistake about it, Leo’s performance in J. Edgar is not just one of the strongest this year, it is also one of his best ever. And he could just win the Oscar any year with this performance. Again, just don’t mention it to him.

“I don’t think anyone would say that they wouldn’t want one. They’d be lying, I think. But that is not my motivation when I do these roles. I really am motivated by being able to work with great people.”

He added that he was more interested in having a “creative body of work for myself that I can look back and be proud of.”

“I was 15 years old when I had my first opportunity in movies. I went and watched movies for a year and a half. I watched every possible great film and every great performance I could and since then I’ve said to myself how could I ever emulate such great artistic master that’s been done in cinemas past. That’s really my motivation and that’s a fact. I feel like I want to do something as good as what all my heroes have done.”

Leo picks his projects meticulously. He revealed that two of the primary reasons why he did J. Edgar were the opportunity to finally get to work with Mr. Eastwood and to be able to play a character as complex and ambiguous as J. Edgar Hoover. Some critics have noted that he seems to be attracted to suffering and tormented characters. Case in point is his two masterful turns in Martin Scorsese’s taut thriller Shutter Island and Christopher Nolan’s mind-blowing masterpiece Inception last year.

In J. Edgar, he adds another great character to his body of work that already includes, among many others, Howard Hughes in The Aviator, controversial poet Arthur Rimbaud in Total Eclipse and, of course, Romeo Montague in Baz Lurhman’s now classic Romeo+Juliet.

What attracted him to J. Edgar Hoover’s story was his unquestioned place in American history. “His life was a reflection of the changing of our country,” he said. “I think that he had great intentions for our country. I think that most of what he did was under the auspices of being a great patriot and great American and I think that he also really wanted personal glory. He was very ambitious... (FBI) was his baby and he wanted to be the symbol of it — the symbol of power in his office — and to hold on to that power at any cost necessary. It’s hard to like somebody who has that kind of attitude about their job, but I do believe he was a patriot and his intentions for protecting our country were there.”

J. Edgar Hoover is credited for creating the most powerful and most sophisticated law enforcement agency in the world but at the expense of personal liberty and freedom as some critics would contend. “He had despicable tactics towards the end of his life but it was all under the auspices of the fact that he thought he was a great patriot and he was doing a service to the country.”

Another aspect of J. Edgar Hoover’s mysterious life that’s tackled in the movie is his presumed homosexuality, including his apparent life-long love affair with his assistant Clyde Tolson, who is portrayed in the movie by handsome newcomer Armie Hammer. Note: The Screen Actors Guild recognized Armie’s impressive performance with aBest Supporting Actor nomination.

Oscar-winning actress Judi Dench and Oscar-nominated actress Naomi Watts are also part of the incredible cast.
Leo may be too modest to talk about how impressive he was in this movie but there is no denying that his powerful performance carries the movie as it navigates through the more than 50 years in J. Edgar Hoover’s colorful life. Watch it and be amazed.

(J. Edgar opens in theaters on Jan. 25)

My Robert Downy, Jr. Interview (Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows)

2012-01-29T20:21:00.000-08:00

The game is on for Robert Downey Jr.
By Raymond de Asis Lo, L.A. Correspondent (The Philippine Star) Updated January 06, 2012 12:00 AM Comments (0)

Robert is back as the world’s most famous detective Sherlock Holmes in A Game of Shadows
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MANILA, Philippines- There is a small, cozy coffee shop in a little corner along Melrose Ave. near San Vicente in West Hollywood called Urth Caffe that’s a favorite among Hollywood celebrities who seek those few minutes of anonymity while doing some of the most basic errands ordinary folks do like getting in line for a cup of their favorite coffee.

A couple of months back, while this writer was at this coffeeshop, a Hollywood power couple quietly sauntered into the shop and unassumingly took their spot in the usual long queue to order what I assume was coffee for him and hot chocolate for her and pretty much enjoyed being in a crowd where everyone was polite enough to just give them a quick recognizing look and leave them to their privacy. Unfortunately for them, we were there.

One of my friends recognized Robert Downey Jr. even if he was clad in full winter garb and a bonnet and immediately alerted us. I had to take a second look to confirm. Yes, it was Robert with his pregnant wife, producer Susan Downey.

Thrilled as were, we pretended that we were cool about this celebrity sighting but I had to alert my Facebook friends about it, though and kept our distance. I have met and interviewed Robert before but when you’re someone who adores the movies and movie stars like me, nothing beats the exhilaration of unexpectedly bumping into a superstar in person.

And lo and behold, a week after that fun “fan” day, I received an invitation to the press junket for Warner Bros.’ SherlockHolmes: A Game of Shadows. I was doing an interview with Robert! I didn’t have to think twice before accepting the invite, previous commitments be damned.

You just don’t say no to Robert Downey Jr.

With Jude Law, who reprises his role as Sherlock’s trusted friend Dr. Watson

The Hollywood superstar belongs to that rarefied group of actors whose name alone can command instant adulation. He is A-list in the truest sense of the word. His last four movies made nearly $1.5B in worldwide box-office! And he is so cool about it. He can even be lighthearted and funny.

At the junket, during the cast press conference, someone asked Robert who between him and his producer-wife was the boss at home and the actor replied in his typical dry humor: “First of all, I am definitely the boss at home,” he stressed with a sly smile forming on his face. “And I am also the boss on the set!”

“There is no room for discussion ever,” he continued. “I am so happy she’s sitting in the back of me right now because that’s where she belongs.” Susan, who, along with Joel Silver, has produced Robert’s string of megahits beginning with 2008’s Iron Man, was present during the junket and laughed along with everyone else.

But, no, the Urth Caffe encounter was never brought up.

Robert has enjoyed an enviable success over the past couple of years. He has two huge franchise hits to his name: Iron Man and Sherlock Holmes.

In the latter, the actor returns as the world’s most famous and smartest detective which again features the returning Jude Law, as Sherlock’s trusted friend Dr. Watson, and director Guy Ritchie, whose hyper-kinetic directorial style provided the original Sherlock Holmes a distinctive appeal.

“Robert was a great friend to me so it was with great enthusiasm that we embarked on the second one,” Guy replied when asked to describe how it was working with Robert again, “and I enjoyed it more than the first.”

Jude skipped the L.A. junket because he had a previous commitment in London.

The stunning and beautiful Swedish actress Noomi Rapace, who made a splash last year when she made the original The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo joined the junket and was surprisingly relaxed and very articulate in person. She stars in the movie as the mysterious gypsy woman who may hold the key to Sherlock solving his current case.

This is Noomi’s first Hollywood movie (she will be appearing in Ridley Scott’s Alien prequel, Prometheus later this summer) and she revealed to us how both excited and nervous she was when she learned that, for her first Hollywood outing, she was going to be in a movie with Robert, which proves that, apparently, no one is immune to Robert’s charm, even among actors.

“I was a bit nervous,” she said. “I met Robert and Susan six weeks before we started in a very intense and crazy 30 minutes in their office and Robert was on the floor trying to find a fan for me because he’s like, ‘Noomi needs a fan because it’s way too hot for her,’ and he was just fantastic from the first moment I met him.”

Robert with Swedish actress Noomi Rapace, who plays a mysterious gypsy in the film

“He was so sweet. We had a good chat. We talked about movies, dreams and what kind of things we want to do,” she added.

To the curious, the answer is “No.” Noomi wasn’t offered nor she turned down the American version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. She told this writer during a private conversation that she made it clear after finishing the original Swedish trilogy that she will not revisit Lisbeth Salander again because, according to her, the character and the movie took a such huge emotional toll on her.

But I digress.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows also brings to screen Sherlock’s foremost enemy, the equally clever Professor James Moriarty, portrayed by British actor Jared Harris.

This rousing and action-packed movie jumps from London and takes the audience to an adventure in France, Germany and in Switzerland. Complementing the thrilling journey is the impressive production design, which is such a visual delight, and the original music composed by Oscar-winning Hans Zimmer, which incorporated authentic gypsy music into the score.

The sequel has retained nearly the same team from the first Sherlock Holmes. Even Rachel McAdams provides a brief cameo in the movie.

Among the characters he has portrayed, Robert considers Sherlock among his favorites. “I am not particularly like Sherlock,” he said, “I think the great thing about it is Jude and I found a lot of escapism and aspects of ourselves in Holmes and Watson.”

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows opens Jan. 8. in theaters.

My Laura Dern Interview

2012-01-29T20:14:00.000-08:00

Laura Dern gets Enlightened
By Raymond de Asis Lo L.A. Correspondent (The Philippine Star) Updated January 04, 2012 12:00 AM Comments (0)

Laura Dern with Luke Wilson, who plays her good-for-nothing ex-husband.
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MANILA, Philippines - Just because one is an activist, that doesn’t mean one has to sacrifice one’s sense of style. For award-winning actress Laura Dern, who is a staunch supporter of the Healthy Child Healthy World organization, a worldwide campaign to provide protection and care of children affected by environmental disasters, the stylish way to do it is by donning the luxurious Italian brand Prada — occasionally, that is.

“Save the planet and a few dresses,” the beautiful star joked during an interview in Beverly Hills a few months ago before coyly adding, “we have our own weaknesses,” to the delight and understanding of the international press present during theHBO event held in July.
Laura’s choice of wardrobe was excusable. She had to look lovely as she was doing press for her new TV series, the comedy-drama Enlightened, which premiered this month in the Philippines and airs every Tuesday at 10 p.m. on the HBO Signature channel.

The Hollywood veteran is a life-long advocate for social activism and her new series is a culmination of her long-held dream to reach out to as many people as possible: Challenge her audience to think about issues vital to society, make them aware of what’s going on and, if possible, get them to act and be catalysts for change.

“I want to play a woman who is so enraged by the apathy in this country — which seems to just be a given now, like, we never march on the streets; it’s gone!” the actress offered when asked what was her motivation for Amy, her character in the series, which she co-wrote with acclaimed filmmaker Mike White. (Note: this interview took place during the middle of summer, a couple of months before the Occupy Movement was launched in Wall Street and inspired similar Occupy protests all over the world. Laura must have had a wonderful holiday seeing how many people seemed to have been reawakened to societal inequities and started demanding for real change.)

“It’s just tragic,” she added. “Maybe the blessing of what we witnessed in Egypt is, ‘Oh, we can actually do that again and it will start to transform things,’ but in the last so many years, we all witnessed that America stopped being angry and so, I thought, ‘What does it take to actually use your voice,’ especially for women because there are issues on what women are supposed to be like.”

Laura co-stars with real-life mom Dianne Ladd in the HBO series

Laura, despite growing up in the glitz and glamour of Hollywood and being the daughter of great actors Bruce Dern and Dianne Ladd, was someone who was always aware and who always exercised her position in the industry to stir attention in the social causes that she believes in.

She stars as Amy in Enlightened, a self-destructive health and beauty executive who, feeling all trapped and unable to cope with pressures to her personal life, had a very public workplace meltdown and spent a few months at a treatment center. After she recovered, she returned and surprised everyone by just casually picking up the pieces of her old life and uncharacteristically deciding to take on a different personal path — one that she hoped would reshape the world around her.

She is “a rager (sic) who becomes a whistleblower,” was how she described her character. “I think we all share something that my character shares. It’s a character who turns on CNN and is devastated at every moment because something horrific is going down and she is the kind of person who feels everything in an enormous way which is a cause for great comedy as well as sadness because she can’t contain it.”

Laura’s real-life mom, Diane, is also starring in the series along with Luke Wilson, who plays her good-for-nothing ex-husband.

This is not Laura’s first HBO project. She previously appeared and received numerous awards in the 2008 television movie Recount, which was based on the contentious 2000 US presidential elections.

The actress is widely known to film enthusiasts for her startling turns and memorable performances in several David Lynch classics (Blue Velvet, Wild At Heart, Inland Empire) and her record-setting 1991 Oscar nomination for Rambling Rose. That recognition was significant because she was nominated for Best Actress in the Martha Coolidge drama while her mom was cited for Best Supporting Actress — the first time a mother and daughter tandem ever received Oscar nominations on the same year!

Over the years, she appeared in several Hollywood blockbusters (Jurassic Park, Little Fockers, etc.) but she most notably thrived as one of the best actresses working in smaller independent movies and, in Enlightened, she continues her association with independent filmmakers by working with noted directors Jonathan Demme, Miguel Arteta and co-writer Mike White, whose own nervous breakdown partially inspired the story, too.

In a career spanning nearly four decades, Laura has seen Hollywood rise and fall. Independent filmmakers come and go, and in the present, she, along with many independent artists, considers HBO her home.

“Working for a big studio is not where I get to tell a story now,” she explained when asked to assess her experience in the business. “Now, HBO is the Fox Searchlight because all the studios had their indie companies disappear because the hedge funds disappeared and the banks disappeared in America. Luckily, HBO is willing to do very brave content and has the money to support it.”

The leading cable network, HBO, has produced some of the best, very popular and most provocative series on television in recent years: True Blood, Hung, Sex and the City, Boardwalk Empire, The Sopranos, among many others.

Viewers will see more of Laura because Enlightened has just been renewed for another season by HBO.

— With reports from Anselmo Manosca

My "New Year's Eve" Coverage

2012-01-29T20:11:00.000-08:00

New Year's Eve stars share their New Year's resolutions
By Raymond de Asis Lo L.A. Correspondent (The Philippine Star) Updated December 09, 2011 12:00 AM Comments (0)

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MANILA, Philippines - Call it cliché or whatever but nearly everyone has his own resolutions to get better, be nicer, smile often, love more, hate less and all the usual promises as the year draws to a close — and when this writer says everyone, I mean, everyone, even the A-lists of Hollywood, that is.

And yes, oh yes, they do! Just this Sunday, the stars of New Year’s Eve, Warner Bros.’ latest star-studded movie from well-loved director Garry Marshall, shared their New Year’s resolutions (and because this movie celebrates one of the biggest holidays of the year, some also shared their favorite holidays to this writer’s delight) during the movie’s press junket in Beverly Hills.

For Hollywood superstar Michelle Pfeiffer, who graces the big screen again after a brief absence, the last few days of the year are the perfect opportunity for her to reflect on the things and events of the past year although, unlike many others, she doesn’t keep a list of things to do.

“It’s pretty much the same every year,” the beautiful actress says. “My resolution is always to reflect back and look at ways that I can simplify my life and find ways that I can just appreciate the many blessings that I have.”
She adds, “It’s easy to get caught up in the rat race of everything that you forget that it’s all good, you know. Maybe not all of it is good but most of it is really, really good. There’s a lot of blessings we have and a lot to be thankful for.”

Michelle leads the all-star ensemble cast that includes Oscar winners Halle Berry, Robert de Niro and Hilary Swank. Music superstars Jon Bon Jovi, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges and Common are also in the cast, along with teen favorites Lea Michele, Zac Efron and Abigail Breslin. Handsome screen leading men Ashton Kutcher and Josh Duhamel are also in the stellar cast along with sexy and beautiful actresses Katherine Heigl, Jessica Biel and Sarah Jessica Parker.

Katherine Heigl

Garry, whose resolution is “to stop swearing at inanimate objects” and who also gave us last year’s similarly star-studded Valentine’s Day, has assembled another dizzying array of stars to give life to Katherine Fugate’s intertwining stories of love, hope, forgiveness, second chances and fresh starts amid the chaos and charm of New York City on the most exciting day of the year, New Year’s Eve.

Asked how he managed to gather all these stars together, the 77-year-old director replied in his usual humorous style. “Well, I don’t want to startle you but we do pay them,” he said, eliciting chuckles from everyone including Hilary Swank, who said that she would love to work for Garry anytime.

Hilary is cast in the movie as the person overseeing the biggest job in the world on New Year’s Eve, the “ball drop” in Times Square.
The two-time Oscar-winner shared that her favorite holiday is not New Year’s Day but Thanksgiving “because there’s so much to be thankful for.”

She remains thankful even if she had a particularly rough time this year. The star was embroiled in an ugly controversy when she made an appearance at a party honoring a Chechen dictator. This regrettable incident was attributed to poor judgment by several of her management team with whom she has severed ties already.

Sarah Jessica Parker

Hilary likes Thanksgiving more because “you don’t have that pressure of finding the perfect gift for that person even though that’s one thing you want to do but there’s so many people that you have in your life and that can become a real stress. So the idea of everyone that you love just getting together and being with your family around the kitchen table is my favorite thing to do.”

“To sit with my family and friends just around the kitchen table over a great meal is, hands down, always my favorite, favorite holiday,” she adds.

As soon as Hilary finished telling us her Thanksgiving stories, the screenwriter immediately announced that she has just finished writing another screenplay called Thanksgiving to the amusement of everyone.
There was a running joke during the junket on what big holiday will Garry decide to make next. Josh suggested Columbus Day or Veterans Day.

However, for Oscar-nominated teen star, Abigail, Halloween would be it. Even if she considers it the “most stressful” holiday of all, she still considers it her favorite. The 15-year-old star recalled how during one Halloween she had difficulty choosing what costume to wear and when she finally decided on one, all the houses in her neighborhood were already either closed or out of candies that she ended up going to the 24-hour store and just bought candies instead.

Hilary Swank

On the topic of New Year’s resolutions, teen heartthrob Zac, who delighted everyone when he obliged Michelle’s request to perform the “dougie” (a type of dance which the good-looking actor spelled out for me when me met in the bathroom later), would want to spend more time with his family this year.

“I really want to make an effort to spend more time with my family because I just feel like they’re so, so instrumental in my life and I never get the chance to go out with them individually. I want to take them on the Appalachian Trail,” Zac says of his goal. “I also want to spend some time with my mom, solo.”

For Glee sensation, Lea, who proudly shared that she made a successful resolution a few years ago not to go to bed wearing girl’s boxers and T-shirts and wear “something nice so that I feel good after” said that her resolution this year is to “continue to be healthy and work hard… but also to spend time with my family, it’s important!”

New Year’s Eve is now showing in theaters nationwide. Make it your resolution to catch this fun and heartwarming movie.

My interview with Robin Williams (2011)

2011-12-06T13:02:00.000-08:00

Revel in the genius of Robin Williams
By Raymond de Asis Lo, L.A. Correspondent (The Philippine Star) Updated November 25, 2011 12:00 AM Comments (1)

The very energetic Robin returns as Ramon and Lovelace in Warner Bros.’ Happy Feet 2
| Zoom

MANILA, Philippines - How can you tell you are at the Happy Feet 2 junket? Simple, you have funnyman Robin Williams providing an impromptu comic performance for the press and it’s free of charge.

It’s been ages since the comedian has performed a stand-up routine. This writer and the other international journalists during the movie’s press conference at theBeverly Hilton a couple of weeks ago were among the few lucky ones who experienced the actor’s funny antics and off-the-cuff humor for nearly 40 minutes.

If only this writer can transfer to paper all of the actor’s jokes, fans of the comedian would surely be thanking me until Christmas. But I couldn’t. I could let in a few, perhaps, but not entirely. I don’t have copyright clearance, if you must know. I was trying to make a joke there and, I know, I wasn’t funny. Let’s leave the jokes to Robin then, shall we?

Here’s a sample of how funny the actor can get.

Setup — He saw an iPhone (which also doubles as a voice recorder) placed in front of him and he immediately picked it up and had the following imaginary exchange with Siri, the latest software featured in the current iPhone release.

Robin: Siri, where’s a good restaurant in Paris?

Siri: I’m sorry, Robin. I am not able to get the full locations in France.

Robin: Siri, why?

Siri: I can’t answer that question, Robin, legally.

The very energetic Robin returns as Ramon and Lovelace in Warner Bros.’ Happy Feet 2, the highly-anticipated sequel to the 2006 Oscar-winning and box-office hit animated movie. The sequel also features the voice of Lord of the Rings star Elijah Wood, who is back as Mumble. Hank Azaria, who provides the voice for The Mighty Sven, the penguin who can fly, and Grammy-winner Common, who provides the voice for Seymour, the leader of a new penguin colony, are the new additions to the stellar voice cast along with Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Sofia Vergara and pop music superstar Pink (billed in the movie as Alecia Beth Moore.)

Elijah, Common and Hank were also at the junket along with director George Miller and they were just as captivated by Robin’s funny antics as we were.

The Oscar-winning actor is so witty he could turn any simple, innocent questions into something crazy, irreverent and just damn madly hilarious.

Asked what he thinks of the latest 3D technology craze, which was used to great success in Happy Feet 2 (the underwater scenes featuring the krill swarm are mighty impressive!), Robin quipped: “One thing I don’t want to see in 3D is porn!”

“I think that would like, ‘Whoa! Put it away!’” he exclaimed. “I mean the technology is extraordinary but I’ve seen a good 3D and an okay 3D. When I saw Avatar in 3D, it was so vivid because of the whole world, that’s why it was so expensive because of the details.”

Elijah Wood is also making a comeback as Mumble

Happy Feet 2 reportedly cost $120M to make because of the state-of-art 3D technology employed during production.

“The shots in this movie, under water, having dived off the coast of Australia — it’s created an immersive experience,” he added. “I’ve talked to a lot of people and children who have been to the screenings of this movie and they were all like this, (Robin paused and formed a delighted expression on his face), in awe, which is a wonderful thing. The technology is increasing on a daily basis. Once you write the program, someone builds up the next program.”

Robin recalled that when he did the effects-laden Jumanji some 15 years ago, “one of the hardest programs to write was the monkey because of the hair and I am going, ‘Wow, I’ll be working for a while!’” he joked.

But he was wrong. Peter Jackson would revolutionize the motion-capture technique in only five short years and in 2001, Lord of the Rings changed the whole ballgame.

The actor referred to a conversation he had with a fellow actor recently about Andy Serkis’ (the actor who played Gollum in the LOTR trilogy) performance in this year’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes, “It’s one of the most vivid characters I’ve seen in film in recent history,” he said, “and that’s done with CG but with a person behind it, driving it, which is a wonderful combination of technology and humanity. Even though it’s an ape, he gives it such depth and it’s just powerful.”

“That thing that Copolla said years ago at the Academy Awards, ‘the technology will always need great storytelling to work together’ — that’s happening and it is driven by directors who know the technology… and I am just in awe. I just become a child sometimes watching these movies,” the actor further added.

One journalist asked Robin what among the movies he’s done so far would he like to see on 3D and he quickly replied, “None so far,” before getting into another series of bellyaching jokes.

“I don’t know. I think Birdcage in 3D will just be gayer,” he said before standing up and doing a routine from the movie. Later he would joke: “Michelle Bachman’s husband, come out! Come out, Mr. Bachman, come out! Join us!”

The room was filled with laughter when he was doing this and his co-stars, especially Hank filled Robin in with materials by suggesting movie titles.

“Awakenings in 3D would be good,” Hank suggested, referring to Robin’s 1991 Oscar-nominated movie with Robert de Niro about a man who woke up from years of catatonia.

“Oh my god,” Robin reacted by acting all stiff and said, “that is like the attack of the giant snails!”

“There’s one French guy going, ‘You could make a movie like that, it will be called The Fabulous Killer Snails and it will be eight hours long… and they come and they put salt on you while you sleep.’”

It was one of the most enjoyable interviews this writer ever had and if only I could share my recording of the entire interview, all you readers can also revel in the genius of the man.

(Happy Feet 2 is now showing in theaters.)

My Coverage of Entourage

2011-11-20T19:58:00.000-08:00

Adrian & Jeremy: Is there life after Entourage?
By Raymond de Asis Lo, L.A. Correspondent (The Philippine Star)

Two scenes from the hit comedy series: (Top) Adrian Grenier, center, with Kevin Dillon, left, and Scott Caan. (Above) Jeremy Piven, right, with Rex Lee.
| Zoom

MANILA, Philippines - In 2004, a young sexy newcomer arrived in Hollywood and set the town on fire. His good looks landed him many parts and, at the height of his career, he even did a superhero movie! His is the most quintessential career — one that’s riddled with gossips, failed relationships, sensational paparazzi scandals, porn star girlfriends, etc. The actor also had a group of hangers-on called enablers in extreme cases but otherwise an actor’s entourage when described affectionately.

The actor could be any person working in Hollywood. Name anyone and in some measure he could perfectly fit the bill but, nope, the actor in our story is no real actor. We are talking about Vince Chase, the alter ego of green-eyed and equally good-looking actor Adrian Grenier in the hit showbiz satire Entourage, whose eighth and final season started airing last Nov. 9 on the HBO Signature channel.

In the series, Vince Chase started as an up-and-coming actor who, over seven seasons of the show, saw his career go up in Hollywood. The whole series evolved around Vince’s misadventures with fame along with his three buddies and his odd love-hate relationship with his foul-mouthed agent, Ari Gold, brilliantly portrayed in the series by veteran actor Jeremy Piven, who already received three Emmy awards for his role.

When Entourage premiered more than seven years ago, the comedy series instantly became a hit and the cast became enormously popular that some writers were calling them the male version of the Sex and the City girls. Thankfully, the actors’ real-life fame did not go into their heads and they did not mirror their characters’ shenanigans in the series.

In late July this year, the two lead stars of the series, Adrian and Jeremy, did separate interviews with The Philippine STAR during the Los Angeles junket of Entourageto talk about the final season of the series and to share their thoughts on their characters, their post-Entourage plans, and whether a movie version of the series is ever going to get made.

Adrian sat at the roundtable first and below are excerpts of the interview with the 35-year-old star who described his character as “maybe more lazy than he is dumb” and who is “actually quite savvy.”

This is going to be one of your last interviews for Entourage, how do you feel about it?
“Whoa! Don’t be so sure.”

Do people mistake you for Vince when you are out?
“At times. And they are often disappointed that I am not. I am only partly as cool as Vince but not quite.”

How is your relationship with your own agent compared to Vince and Ari’s?
“It’s different. It’s very different. I sometimes feel like maybe I need to be a little more aggressive like Vince and then I find myself saying some of the same lines that Vince does and then I think, ‘Are they gonna take me seriously?...’ It’s hard because on one hand, Vince empowers me but on the other hand, he doesn’t allow me because he has already taken all the good lines.”

The Hollywood life that you portray on the show, how close is that to reality?
“It’s definitely sort of “reality-heightened” but some things are downplayed. A lot of times we have to underplay a situation because people wouldn’t believe it even though it actually happened in real life.”

Can you cite an example?
“You take Vince dating a porn star and doing one of his drug benders, who does that remind you of?”

Does Vince’s story reflect your own reality?
“My reality? I have six porn star girlfriends!” (He joked.) “Sometimes I go to a club and people are a little bit disappointed that I am not a big superstar and I am right there hanging with my friends who are a little nerdier. My friends would say that I am more of, sort of, down-to-earth.”

Are you going to continue making documentary movies as a director after the series is over? (Adrian did a popular documentary called Shot in the Dark, which chronicled his search for his estranged biological father in 2002.)
“Actually, Teenage Paparazzo (his current film that premiered earlier this year) is still alive and well. We just launched what we call the Teenage Paparazzo Experienceand it’s a college tour, a non-traditional venue tour for the film coupled with an educational curriculum, an art exhibit and guest speakers. We are going from town-to-town partly to recoup some of our investments but more importantly as an educational tool to share the ideas with young people, students…”

How do you feel about doing a movie version of Entourage?
“Oh yeah, don’t you guys wanna see it? I mean, we must do our duty and make a movie. Yes, sir! We all have the task to make the film as explosive and as epic as possible.”

After the interview with Adrian, Jeremy joined the roundtable and the forty-something actor talked lengthily about his character and his immediate plans now that the series is over. Below are excerpts from that interview.

Do you miss Ari?
“I don’t. I am incredibly fulfilled. I got to play this wildly abrasive, aggressive character and then, this year, the wife leaves him and he is completely emotionally gutted so I get to reveal his humanity, show this transformation from the shark into being human. As an actor, you can’t ask for anything more and if you want anything more, you are too greedy. I am wildly fulfilled so I don’t want to ask for too much.”

How is your blood pressure now after playing him with all that anger? Did it affect you in any way?
“I guess it did. It did affect me. I had some health problems at one point. I don’t know any other way but to give everything I have in every single take. I have never ‘phoned in,’ as they say, a moment as an actor. When you are playing rage or fear, or now, sadness, for 14 hours a day, it takes its toll but that’s the game you’re in and I think that my quest now is to find balance in my life. Actors want to act and I’ve gotten a chance for eight years to do that and I am very grateful.”

While shooting, are you able to disconnect yourself from your character at all?
“I am able very much to disconnect because it is such a release. It is so cathartic to be able to do these things: to yell and fire people, to hurl insults and to what-not — I am a stage actor from Chicago and I have been doing yoga for 20 years and to inhabit a character — whom I do not necessarily want to be in the same room with — to be honest with you, is pretty fun.”

Is that why you don’t miss him?
“I don’t miss him because I don’t have any regrets. There’s a great cliché about sports: You want to leave it all on the field. I’ve left it all on the field. There’s nothing left.”

Are there anything left for the movie?
“Yes! The movie could be great. It could be wonderful. We’ll just take a moment and see how all these settles in and how we end up and maybe people will miss us a little bit and we come back.”

Are you going back to the theater? (Jeremy famously left a Broadway play three months into the engagement in 2008.)
“Sure, I am going back to the theater as soon as I find a great play.”
Entourage airs every Wednesday at 10 p.m. on the HBO Signature channel. Now, go fix your schedule and track the last days of Vince and his gang. — (With reports from Anselmo Manosca)

My coverage of True Blood S4

2011-11-01T21:15:00.000-07:00

True Blood: Drama at its sexiest
By Raymond de Asis Lo L.A. Correspondent (The Philippine Star) Updated November 01, 2011 12:00 AM Comments (0)

Joe Manganiello, star of the HBO series.
| Zoom

MANILA, Philippines - Are you ready for more sex — wild and uninhibited sex on primetime television? You better clear your calendar on Nov. 3 and make sure that by the time the hour hits 10 p.m. on Thursday night, you are already lounging on your favorite loveseat or your comfy couch or, better yet, on your bed cuddled with your partner because HBO Asia is set to debut the fourth season premiere of the blockbuster supernatural series True Blood, the sexiest drama to ever grace the cable network.

Forget about the pubertal vampires on The Vampire Diaries or the lovesick Edward Cullen of Twilight, the vampires in True Blood are adults — and they act like one. They are violent but they love to make love. No limits, well, sort of.

“I think that part of the joy of the show is pushing those limits,“ series creator Alan Ball told the set of foreign journalists present during the show’s Los Angeles junket in early August. “In terms of body parts, actors have limits on what they are willing to show but in terms of violence, I think it’s probably what is possible, what we can do with prosthetics and how much it will cost.

“I don’t think you can get pornographic and I think there is a point where violence just becomes gratuitous and I don’t think we’ll ever do torture porn. I don’t like movies like Hostel where it’s all just about sadism.”

Based on the bestselling Sookie Stackhouse series of novels by author Charlaine Harris, the series is set in a fictional Louisiana small-town and tells the story of Sookie, portrayed by Oscar-winning actress Anna Paquin, the girl who had the gift of reading the thoughts of other people and who would later fall in love with a vampire.
The first and second season of the series told the story of how Sookie fell in love with the vampire named Bill Compton, played by Anna’s real-life husband Stephen Moyer, and how she became the object of desire by another vampire, the elder Eric, played by Alexander Skarsgard.

The third season revealed that Sookie’s telepathic gift was no accident. She is a fairy. And, not only that, she also discovered that her best friends are witches. There was also a new character, a werewolf, played by the hunky Joe Manganiello, thrown in the mix. But everything that took place during season three was just a prelude to the explosive fourth season.

“Nothing ever works out for anybody on the show,” cautioned Alan, however. So fans of the hit series, even if they are familiar with the fourth book in the series calledDead to the World, are still in for a lot of surprises.

There are many challenges in adapting and spreading a 400-page book into 15 or more one-hour episodes and Alan said he is primarily concerned about telling a good story that services all the characters in the book that fans have grown to love. But as much as he was pressed for details on the much-awaited shower scene between Eric and Sookie this season, Alan just wouldn’t budge. “We decided to do something a little different with it,” he said. “If you just try to pull off the scene as in the book, I don’t think you’ll ever be able to do it the way people imagined it — without descending into pornography — so what we did is we definitely have a shower scene but it goes to an unexpected place that is new and, yet, at the same time, very satisfying. I am pretty sure people will be very happy with our version of the shower scene.”

But for the show’s main star, Anna, the main challenge is to not disappoint the fans of the books.

During the junket, Anna also expressed her excitement about the show’s forthcoming season and how her character finally gets to be her own person. “I think that she’s taking a step back from being a damsel-in-distress and from being at the whims of other people.”

Anna Paquin and Joe Manganiello

The gap-toothed Australian actress was pleasantly chatty and friendly in person. She burst into Hollywood in 1994 as a young acting prodigy from New Zealand who wowed the fierce critics at Cannes and won the hearts of the Academy. True Blood was her first foray into television and she caused another sensation with the steamy love scenes that she agreed to do. The little girl from The Piano was finally an adult and people embraced her transformation.

“It was impossible to imagine how big the show was gonna be,” she said reflecting on how the show made her become a cult-like figure among the show’s devotees. She recalled how fans mobbed her during a trip she made to the annual Comic Convention (a gathering of self-proclaimed nerds) and was astonished when she saw how many girls came dressed up as Sookie. She also had encounters with fans that are angry with her for breaking up with Bill.

But ultimately, Anna is just thankful to be a part of a show that’s groundbreaking in every level. The show encouraged diversity and championed the female identity — but the series really made its mark with its tasteful and provocative sex scenes, which are essential in a show that celebrates the individual through marked sensuality and sexuality.

“Even though my character didn’t have any sex scenes in the first few episodes, I always got a pretty good idea that it was gonna get pretty raunchy pretty quickly,” she disclosed. “But that’s the least of things I worry about. I mean, any girl would want to look good in front of the camera, like ‘Does my ass look fat?’ but not like, ‘Oh, my God! Someone’s gonna see my naked body!’ It’s not among the issue!”

And she sees no reason to worry because she has her full trust on her producer. “Alan is a good person and a smart man. He’s not exploitative. He can push the boundaries really far without anyone feeling like they are being specifically being taken advantaged of.”

How about the much-awaited shower scene between Sookie and Eric?

The actress just kept mum. Smiled knowingly before teasing that her character and Eric has already shared a kiss before — but it was in a dream. “Why?” she asked, “We still do it when we shoot even if it’s only a dream!”

Now, that shower scene could be close to real. Be sure to watch. — With reports from Anselmo Manosca

My coverage of SayAwit

2011-09-18T20:14:00.000-07:00

Lea Salonga tribute highlights SayAwit
By Raymond de Asis Lo, L.A. Correspondent (The Philippine Star) Updated September 19, 2011 12:00 AM Comments (0)

Primitive chanting in SayAwit’s first act| Zoom

MANILA, Philippines - They opened the show with a chant and everyone inside the Ford Amphitheatre in Hollywood hills was held in complete awe; the audience was enthralled by the unique sound emanating from the stage. The primitive ritual performed by the critically-acclaimed Los Angeles-based choir Philippine Chamber Singers evoked the creation of man based on the Filipino folklore of Si Malakas at si Maganda. It was a fitting start to a show that promised to showcase the best of Filipino songs and dances.

The lush scenery of the outdoor venue — with the late summer breeze providing a soft hum in the background — was the perfect stage for the opening tribute to Mother Nature. Music is not a modern-day discovery. Music, like every other form of art, traces its roots to our natural environment. Those primitive chanting are our ancestors’ way of imitating the sounds they hear from the rushing rivers, flapping leaves and howling winds; it was their way to commune with the gods. The shrieking, the high-pitched sound, was impeccably captured by the choir and for a few minutes the audience was transported back in time.

It was a difficult first act. It was more of a performance act than a musical act, but it was a welcome respite from the flashy and catchy pop tunes churned out every week for today’s teens noted for their short attention span. The experience was totally new for the audience that didn’t seem to know how to respond in the beginning. It was the ethnic portion of the show billed as SayAwit, a play on the Tagalog words for Dance (Sayaw) and Song (Awit). It was a great start — challenging and different but definitely interesting. Too bad, the production wasn’t able to sustain it.

After the promising start, the show became a mishmash of various musical forms and dances and a seemingly misplaced stand-upcomedy act in-between musical sets by noted thespian Bernardo Bernardo, who also served as the show’s writer and director.

Lea Salonga is honored as the ‘greatest Filipino musical talent ever’ – Photos by Dondi Quema

For a show that promised to showcase classic and contemporary Philippine choral music infused with excerpts from Filipino stage musicals, last weekend’s presentation did all that and so much more — so much more that, to my disappointment, it ended up becoming too overwhelming, a little bit jarring and just less memorable.

The outstanding first act included regional songs sung in various Filipino dialects and was capped by a prayer to the Virgin Mary. The Philippine Chamber Singers displayed the full array of talent that has already won them applause from all over Southern California. They were so great that I nearly forgot that the choir is composed of remarkable individuals who have their respective day jobs to attend to and it is only their passion for singing and incredible time management skills that keep the choir alive.

The second part of the show had more movement on stage but it was a rather standard, if not routine, musical show. “Kung hindi dumating ang mga Kastila sa Pilipinas malamang kamukha tayo lahat ni Nora Aunor,” was how Bernardo introduced the second act — and it set the tone for the rest of the show. He was undeniably funny but those jokes would have worked better in another show.

If I didn’t make any notes during the second act, I wouldn’t have remembered the beautiful tribute to the Filipino Sarsuwela by guest soloist Djoanna Garcia, who has retained her incredible voice, or LA’s top stand-up comic Joseph Gelito’s knockout performance in the naughty act that played on his manliness, or lack thereof.

Joseph Gelito with the Philippine Chamber Singers

And, if not for my notes, I would have still been thinking that the entire show was a tribute to Lea Salonga, who is, according to the show, the greatest Filipino musical talent ever. The Tony-winning singer made a surprise appearance after the confusing Broadway portion of the second act. It was baffling how songs from Miss Saigon and The King & I ended up in a show that was supposed to showcase the best in Filipino music.

My complaints aside, I must say it was still a solid show. Maybe less memorable but still an entertaining show. The first act, though it felt weird initially, was, interestingly enough, the best part of the show. The show had so many guest soloists during the second act that I nearly missed the Philippine Chamber Singers. Perhaps, next time, they will be on a show all their own. They deserve it.

My coverage of "Contagion"

2011-09-09T12:31:00.000-07:00

A movie that will make you jump for cover
By Raymond de Asis Lo, L.A. Correspondent (The Philippine Star) Updated September 10, 2011 12:00 AM Comments (0)

Contagion director Steven Soderbergh (right) with Matt Damon, who’s part of the film’s powerhouse ensemble cast.
| Zoom

MANILA, Philippines - Midway through the press screening of Warner Bros.’ new movie Contagion, Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh’s taut and intense thriller about an unknown virus that’s spiraling out of control, the lady sitting next to me suddenly coughed and my instant reaction was rather embarrassing: I nearly jumped in surprise then I cautiously moved away from her afterwards.

Such was the power of Contagion that moviegoers are definitely going to step out of the cinemas more aware of how diseases are formed and how quickly and easily they can be transmitted — and the only hope of the filmmakers is that people don’t react in the way that this writer reacted.

“There was a responsibility in taking a subject matter like this — to do it realistically,” Steven said during the Los Angeles junket for the movie last week. The director indicated that what he hoped to achieve was for moviegoers to not just gain awareness of the possibilities of another global pandemic (similar to the havoc brought by SARS several years ago and H1N1 a couple of years ago) but be mindful of how to react responsibly and rationally should a scenario similar to what was depicted in the movie occurs in real-life. “If all you get out of it was that, when this happens, you don’t immediately panic; that you count to 11 before you do something stupid, then that would be great.”

“I was aware of the difference between a subject matter like this and something like Traffic,” he added, referring to his landmark film on illegal drugs that won four Oscars in 2000. And he wants to set off the same conversation on the potential threats of diseases in Contagion that Traffic did on drugs. “When you start talking about drugs, there’s an immediate political aspect to it because some people have very strong feelings about drugs in both directions. So right out of the gate, you are polarizing the audience potentially.”

The film stars Oscar Best Actress winners, including Gwyneth Paltrow

But just because the movie is about a deadly virus, it doesn’t mean that the movie lacks the social and political commentary that Steven regularly hints in his movies. “You can avoid drugs but you can’t avoid germs,” he quipped when asked about it. “There was certainly an idea at the back of our minds that this movie could do for elevator buttons what Jaws did for the beach.”

If you find yourself not immediately shaking hands with other people after seeing the movie, then the movie did its part — but moviegoers need to remind themselves that events presented in the movie, though based on intensive research, constitute one big “what if” scenario — a plausible scenario, that is.

Contagion begins with a seemingly routine medical situation: An international traveler, exhibiting flu-like symptoms, reaches into a snack bowl at an airport. She hands her credit card to a waiter before boarding her plane. She gets home, signs something then hands the pen to her chauffeur, and she dies the next day. Soon, others start to exhibit the same mysterious symptoms then, like her, they all quickly die.

The origin of the outbreak is so simple that it will be totally understandable for people to really get scared — and be a little bit paranoid. Matt Damon, who portrays one of the central characters in the movie, shared that when he received a copy of the script, there was a note attached to it that read: “Read this and then go wash your hands.”

But Matt, who lives in New York City with his family, said that being exposed to germs is not entirely a bad thing. “Definitely, we do a lot of hand washing. When kids come back from the park we wash our hands but on a day-to-day basis, germs is a good thing and I want my kids to build their immunity.” The actor, whose head was completely bald during our interview, portrays a man whose wife and son fall victim to the disease.

In addition to Matt, the director also tapped an array of award-winning actors and actresses to portray essential characters in the movie. The stellar cast includes Oscar Best Actress winners Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet and Marion Cotillard. Oscar nominees Laurence Fishburne and Jude Law are also in the cast together with Emmy-winner Bryan Cranston and Tony-winner Jennifer Ehle who was still reeling from excitement at being in the same movie with such a formidable ensemble of Hollywood superstars.

“It was amazing!” the British actress exclaimed. She revealed that she was so honored to be in the movie only to be cut short by Matt who teasingly added, “You are honored to be in a movie with me, I know, I know.” Matt’s unexpected attempt at humor was met with laughter in the room.

“I was so honored to be asked to be a part of it,” Jennifer continued after recovering from Matt’s playful antic. “I assumed that she (her character in the movie) would be cut because people are usually not fascinated with the science in the movie and I also assumed that there would be no time for the story of somebody who wasn’t one of the stellar members of the cast,” she humbly stated.

Jennifer most recently appeared in last year’s Oscar Best Picture winner The King’s Speech. She’s a two-time Tony winner and was a BAFTA award recipient for her performance as Elizabeth Bennet in the BBC production of Pride and Prejudice. She portrays one of the crucial epidemiology experts in Contagion.

Matt’s jokes and Jennifer’s earnestness are what saved the 40-minute cast interview from turning into a monotonous Q&A on the specifics of the disease highlighted in the movie, the relationship of the movie to real events that took place in Mexico during last year’s H1N1 scare, and whether the cast had altered anything in the way they interact with people after doing this movie.

Oscar-nominee Laurence Fishburne, who was also at the junket, disclosed that he didn’t do anything different after doing the movie. “I’d take a flu shot but other than that, I am not really that much different from most people who’d go and say, ‘Oh yeah, there’s something going around? I hope I don’t get it.’”

Matt, Jennifer and Laurence were the only cast members present at the junket but the bigger celebrity at the event was the film’s director, Steven, who is considered as one of the finest American directors working today.
Sometime last year, reports surfaced that Steven was retiring from making movies and the source of the story was no less than Matt himself. Interestingly, that story spread just like a contagious disease and left many film fans disappointed. At the junket, Matt and Steven decided to set the record straight: Both were drunk when said quote was uttered.

“You know, I was really drunk and so was Matt and I thought that there’s this sort of tacit agreement that exists in most advanced societies that, when you are both drunk, your conversation won’t be in USA Today,” Steven lightheartedly explained how the erroneous story started. “Clearly, Matt didn’t share that philosophy and is about as discreet as a 14-year-old girl.”

Matt, all red, but still laughing very hard, responded by saying, “Yeah, yeah, perhaps I shouldn’t have been so liberal with my spreading of that information.” He also added that he now ”acknowledge that things said in that state will be kept in confidence in the future.”

Contagion, hailed by many critics as one of the best movies of the year, is now showing in theaters nationwide.

My interview with Justin Timberlake and Cameron Diaz

2011-08-28T09:34:00.000-07:00

Justin & Cameron: No more awkward moments
By Raymond de Asis Lo, L.A. Correspondent (The Philippine Star) Updated August 29, 2011 12:00 AM

Cameron Diaz and Justin Timberlake: We are great friends| Zoom

“Nah, we kinda know everything about each other!” Justin Timberlake quickly replied when asked if he and former girlfriend Cameron Diaz still found anything interesting and surprising about each other while doing Bad Teacher, Sony Pictures’ hit new comedy that’s set to open in the Philippines on Aug. 31.

The two stars met with this writer a couple of months ago during the LA junket for the movie. They were paired at the roundtable so when one asks Cameron a question, Justin would chime in and playfully answer the question himself. Cameron would likewise do the same during our freewheeling 20-minute interview with the two of the prettiest actors in Hollywood today.

“We are great friends. We knew we’d have fun together in this movie,” Justin continued but not after throwing in a number of funny stories and jokes.

“Yeah, nothing surprised me,” Cameron chimed in later after Justin finally quieted down. “I knew that he would do the job that he did so well because I know how funny he is and what he is capable and how talented he is.”

Although both stars were thrilled when they learned that they were going to make a movie together, there were apprehensive in the beginning on how the media will try to play up their pairing. “We knew that everybody would probably immediately make it into something that it wasn’t and we thought for a second, ëShould we not do it because of that?’” Cameron related. “We are adults. We know where we stand. We know what our relationship is and that’s all we need to know. They can say whatever they want to say as long as we can keep it out so that we can do our work because we didn’t want it to hurt the film.”

“It was a benefit that we knew each other and that we were friends,” Justin added. “I think that it takes a lot of chemistry to get on in film than not having any.” The actor was referring to one uproarious scene in the movie where he and Cameron engaged in what can only be described as the most innocuous sex scene in an R-rated film this year. “If it was anybody other than him, it would have been a totally awkward situation,” Cameron butted in. “We know where we stand. I didn’t have to worry about what lines were being crossed because we already knew what the lines were.”

In that particular scene, it is safe to say that Justin and Cameron sure make a very good couple on screen. They are so comfortable with each other that, at some point during the interview, Cameron even joked about a nonexistent rumor of Justin apparently being in the closet.

In Bad Teacher, Cameron plays Elizabeth Halsey, a, well, bad teacher whose main preoccupation is not to teach but to hang around singles bars every night in search of the rich guy who will marry her and make her instantly rich. Justin plays Scott, the quirky but wealthy and handsome new substitute teacher who becomes Elizabeth’s target towards the good life. Unfortunately, Elizabeth has to contend with a competitive co-teacher (played with absolute delight by talented British newcomer Lucy Punch) and a homely and middle-class P.E. instructor who is not so subtle in his admiration for her.

The ex-sweethearts in a scene from the film Bad Teacher

“Elizabeth really wasn’t a teacher,” Cameron explained. “She doesn’t go to school to do anything but sleep ó that is her time to catch up on her rest because her full-time job is trolling the bars at night for sugar daddies.”

And that is not her ideal teacher.

A good teacher “is someone who actually teaches,” according to the actress who shared with us her own horrible experience with a bad teacher in high school who bullied her. “I had a teacher who was very mean to me. She was mean but she had a lot of knowledge and was probably a really good teacher of that knowledge but I wasn’t fond of her because she wasn’t nice to me.”

Cameron, who went to the same Long Beach high school with the rapper Snoop Dogg, further related that, “one day she just really pissed me off and that was it, it was over. It was like war. War. Crazy, like pullinghair!”
It wasn’t all that bad in high school for her though. “I had another teacher who was good and super nice but wasn’t interested in teaching. The thing that stood out to me was how well he treated everyone and how much fun I had in his class and that meant more to me and gave me more in my life than the teacher who wasn’t nice.”

And if you ask Cameron if she goes visit her old high school, the answer is, “No, I don’t.”

Justin was lucky he didn’t have to contend with nasty teachers in high school. The actor, who is currently on hiatus from his music career, was at the peak of his N’Sync career during his high school years that he took classes on the road.

“I was touring the world at the time that I was going through high school. I did my studies on the road and I did get to see the places in person that I was learning about. It was a pretty, pretty cool high school experience.”
Does Justin think he missed something by missing the kind of fun one could only have by going to an actual campus?

“No, I don’t,” he replied with a noticeable change in his voice; he turned a bit serious. “I don’t actually feel like I missed out. In fact, I feel like a gained a lot. There’s nothing really to do in Memphis, Tennessee but either get arrested or get someone pregnant so I got some tattoos on the road ó that was my life commitment.”

But Justin credits Memphis for his talent in writing and making music ó to which, Cameron completely agrees.

My Amigo review/coverage

2011-08-28T09:30:00.000-07:00

Story of Filipinos from an American perspective
By Raymond de Asis Lo, L.A. Correspondent (The Philippine Star) Updated August 29, 2011 12:00 AM

Joel Torre (with co-producer Margie Templo): Director John Sayles is an anti-imperialist| Zoom

“John is an anti-imperialist,” declared Joel Torre during the brief Q&A session after the recent screening of Amigo in Santa Monica, California.

The Filipino actor was addressing a question from an audience member who asked how John Sayles, the American writer and director of the movie, came to know of the United States’ aggressive territorial expansion into the pacific at the turn of the 20th century and what was his motivation in bringing the story to the big screen.

John was not present during the screening (he was scheduled to appear the following week for another Q&A session) and Joel had to answer on John’s behalf. His co-producer Margie Templo joined him on stage.

The screening drew Filipinos and Americans who applauded enthusiastically at the end of the screening and gave Joel another resounding applause when he took to the stage.

In Amigo, Joel portrays Rafael Dacanay, the amigo in the title — and the Cabeza de Baranggay of the fictional town of San Isidro, who was caught in the middle of the war between the invading Americans and the Filipino guerillas who were trying todrive the invaders away from Philippine soil.

The movie is told from his character’s perspective and in some way illustrates how the modern Filipino psyche came to be — his constant struggle for independence and freedom yet always falling to the ways of the old. Apparently, the Filipino from a century ago is not quite different from the modern Filipino. We are easy targets for oppression because half of us want independence by surrendering our ideals while the others believe in sacrificing their lives for total and complete independence.

Oscar-nominated director John’s in-depth and revealing movie may not be a historically accurate account of what really transpired during that period but by telling the story of Amigo and showing how the Americans used Filipino spies to betray their compatriots, John made a clear point that no successful invaders get to rule a nation when the citizens of the country are united against it.

The greatest tragedy in the story is not how the Philippines fell quickly into the hands of another foreign invader just after gaining independence from the Spaniards but in how easily the Filipinos took for granted the heroism of the likes of Andres Bonifacio. When the small barrio decided to hold a fiesta celebration in the middle of the war, the filmmakers seem to suggest that the Filipinos can be easily manipulated to accept almost anything as long as they get to hold a party.

During the American occupation, “the Philippines lost out a lot but we can’t keep a grudge,” Joel remarked. “We have to move on. It’s a strange dance between the two countries.”

It’s a strange dance indeed: A century after the war, the two countries are still trying to find the perfect dance. Today, an American director is telling the world the story of the Filipino.

Not that there’s no lesson to be learned. The story of the Filipino is a sad reminder of opportunities gained and opportunities lost. When the world finally gets to see the movie and gets to know our history, it will finally understand why the modern Filipino has this dissonant notion of patriotism and confused sense of national identity.

On the surface, the movie is a powerful indictment against war — although, as one friend commented, the narrative seemed to favor more the Americans — there is no denying that the movie condemns war and its unwanted atrocities. But, somehow, if one were to peer closer into the narrative, one would discover that beneath the obvious was the real story of the Filipino-American war. There really was no “Filipino-American” war. The Americans only triumphed because the Filipinos allowed it. The Filipino character was split during the war: Those who fought for the country’s total independence and those who decided to help the enemy and fought for his own self. The subplot featuring the betrayal of Rafael by his envious brother-in-law Nenong is a sad reminder of this contemptible trait.

Amigo was made without the Philippine government offering any help. The director used his own money to finance the movie while Joel and his Philippine crew provided logistics and other support. “This is John’s labor of love,” Joel said who beamed when someone mentioned that the New York Times singled out his performance in a glowing review.

Although American critics have embraced the movie, it is still too early to tell how the movie will play to mainstream American audience. But, if the screening’s reception is any indication, Amigo will definitely have a good box-office run in the US.

In the Philippines, Amigo was released in late 2010 and, not surprisingly, it didn’t get the audience it deserved. One can only surmise what the ordinary Filipinos were busy with during its Philippine theatrical run that only a few individuals took time to support the movie.

The Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino named Amigo one of the best Filipino films of 2010 yet if you poll ordinary folks on the street, all of them would most likely give you a blank face if you ask them if they have seen the movie or if they are aware of the brief war that broke out between the US and the Philippines at the turn of the past century. The indifference of some Filipino to his history is testament to how far we have come as a nation. We will not be truly independent if our sense of history only goes back to, say, the last elections?

Amigo will continue its US theatrical run throughout the months of August and September in key cities.

My Sean Bean Story

2011-08-21T09:25:00.000-07:00

Sean Bean: Not your typical Hollywood actor
By Raymond de Asis Lo, L.A. Correspondent (The Philippine Star)

Sean plays the heroic Lord Eddard Stark in HBO’s Game of Thrones| Zoom

Five minutes are precious at any Hollywood junket: A delay of even just a minute would send any hardworking publicist into a fit of frenzy — junkets are typically planned weeks in advance and every minute is accounted for. Talents have no less than 10 domestic and international roundtables to sit through and a dozen or so TV interviews to do over a span of a single day — and that does not even include any additional 30-minute press conference that most of the cast usually do if the junket involves a blockbuster movie or a huge television production.

Last January, this writer was invited by HBO to its winter press tour to introduce the newest series, the Emmy-nominated epic-fantasy Game of Thrones at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills. We would have six roundtable interviews that day with English actor Sean Bean fourth on the schedule.

The first interview started on time and so did the second and third. When it was Sean’s turn to join us in our suite, it was the publicist assigned to us who showed up instead to tell us that the actor would be late for a few minutes. She explained that the actor had a minor hold-up and had to go up to his hotel room to check on something.
When Sean finally joined us some five minutes later, he was understandably apologetic and explained that he had to attend to his 12-year-old daughter who wanted to use the hotel pool. “She’s not been to America before,” he said. “She’s just gonna go down to the pool and check out a few things.”

This side of Sean, the father who gives equal priority to his kids as he would to his duty as an actor, is the reason why he is not your typical Hollywood actor. When he is not working, he lives mostly out in Sheffield, the English town where he grew up, and shuns the regular places frequented by celebrities.

He admits that he does not have the most easily recognizable name but film fans know him quite well with his indelible villainous turns in movies with Harrison Ford, Nicholas Cage and Robert de Niro, among others. To regular moviegoers though, he is most easily recognized for his breakthrough role as Boromir in the critically-acclaimed and worldwide hit Lord of the Rings (LOTR) trilogy.

In HBO’s Game of Thrones, fans will take delight as the 52-year-old actor returns to the genre that made him one of Hollywood’s most sought-after character actors. This time, he plays the heroic Lord Eddard Stark, a stoic and duty-bound lord and warden of the north realm. He embodies the values of the fictional northern kingdom created by award-winning author George R. Martin in the bestselling fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire, which the series is based on.

It’s been nearly 10 years since the final installment of LOTR hit the theaters and Sean thinks it’s about time he goes back to the genre and, being a fan of the book, the hulking actor revealed that he was flattered when he was chosen by the producers to play one of the central characters in the series. “I was delighted,” he shared before adding that he “found the book very exciting, very luxuriant, very dangerous, very edgy, very sexy.”

In a separate press conference with the Television Critics of America held one day before our interview, Sean was asked if he isn’t afraid that, with his new role in Game of Thrones, people will now always associate him with the epic-fantasy genre, to which he playfully replied, “It’s a good thing to be typecast, isn’t it?”

“I certainly enjoy this genre,” he added. “I happen to enjoy playing those kind of roles with riding horses and swinging swords and having fights and wearing wigs and growing beards even if it takes you about three hours in the morning to get ready.”

“I do have affinity to that kind of role, and I think the good thing about Game of Thrones is that there is such score for it. Whereas Lord of the Rings — there were three films and they thoroughly researched it. But with what George has created, it’s a very different world. Goes on much, much further and much longer, and there’s many twists and turns.”

HBO’s production of Game of Thrones is comparably smaller in scope to the history-making LOTR trilogy but the series’ 13 nominations at next month’s Emmy Awards is testament to the great storytelling that went into it and the impressive visual grandeur provided by the rustic and rugged northern Ireland locale where they shot most of the breathtaking exterior scenes.

“I think the amount of production value that was put into Game of Thrones was incredible, and it’s unlike anything I’ve seen on any other production, including LOTR,” Sean proudly declared. “I saw the sets there, and it was a wonderful production, of course, I was very proud of that! But I was absolutely impressed by the detail, the size of it, the craftsmanship in the studio, the sets. Everything was so detailed, so vast, it was like working on a big feature film every week.”

And, with HBO behind it, the actor thinks that the transfer of the multi-layered and intricate tale from the pages of the novel to the screen was in good hands. “You got people behind you, and it’s an edgy, sexy, violent, dark, brutal piece where nobody’s safe, so many twists and turns, and the characters are so well-drawn as well. I think everybody who sees this is hopefully fascinated by what we have achieved.”

And, quite interestingly, Game of Thrones is set in a land where five minutes do not even matter — summers span decades and winters last a lifetime in the ravaged kingdom called Westeros where two families are eternally engaged in a deadly war to gain control of the Iron Throne, the seat of power that controls the four corners of the kingdom, including the so-called Ancient Wall that protects the kingdom from the encroaching darkness.

Like Tolkien’s LOTR series, the world created by the author is mostly inspired by accounts and legends of the chaotic middle ages. “Most written fantasy, even if it’s set in the imaginary world, is inspired by the history of the middle ages,” author George R. Martin explained, during our separate roundtable with him. “It’s full of castle and lords and swords and knights and all of the other trappings.”

Series producer David Benioff would later emphasize that what sets Game of Thrones apart from the other epic-fantasies that came before it is that “it is not your typical epic battle of good versus evil. These are characters of enormous complexity and shades of gray.”

Fans and critics did agree with him. When the series premiered in the US last April, it was welcomed with enormous acclaim and HBO would later announce that the series would return next winter for its second season. There are seven books in the series.

Game of Thrones will have its premiere this month on HBO Asia with a back-to-back screening of the first and second episodes beginning at 10 p.m. on Aug. 28. All eight succeeding episodes of the series will air back-to-back and uninterrupted for five consecutive Sundays the entire month of September.

2011 Venice Fest Line-up

2011-07-28T23:15:00.000-07:00

Venice 2011 Competition

The Ides Of March, George Clooney (US) [opening film] 
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Tomas Alfredson (UK, Germany) 
Wuthering Heights, Andrea Arnold (UK) 
Texas Killing Fields, Ami Canaan Maan (US) (second work) 
Quando La Notte, Cristina Comencini (Italy) 
Terraferma, Emanuele Crialese (Italy/France) 
A Dangerous Method, David Cronenberg (Germany/Canada) 
4:44 Last Day On Earth, Abel Ferrara (US) 
Killer Joe, William Friedkin (US) 
Un Ete Brulant, Philippe Garrel (France/Italy/Switzerland)  
A Simple Life (Taojie), Ann Hui (China/Hong Kong) 
The Exchange (Hahithalfut), Eran Kolirin (Israel) (second work) 
Alps (Alpeis),Yorgos Lanthimos (Greece) 
Shame, Steve McQueen (UK) (second work) 
L’ultimo Terrestre, Gian Alfonso Pacinotti (GIPI) (Italy) (first work) 
Carnage, Roman Polanski (France/Germany/Spain/Poland) 
Chicken With Plums, Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud (France/Belgium/Germany) 
Faust, Aleksander Sokurov (Russia) 
Dark Horse,Todd Solondz (US) 
Himizu, Sion Sono (Japan) 
Seediq Bale, Wei Te-Sheng (Taiwan) (second work) Surprise film

Out of Competition 

Vivan las Antipodas!(documentary), Victor Kossakovsky (Germany/Argentina/Holland/Chile/Russia) [opening film]  
Damsels In Distress, Whit Stillman (US) [closing film]  
La Folie Almayer, Chantal Akerman (Belgium/France) 
The Sorcerer And The White Snake (Baish Echuanshuo), Tony Ching Siu-Tung (China/Hong Kong) 
Giochi D’estate, Rolando Colla (Switzerland/Italy)  
La Desintegration, Philippe Fauchon (Belgium)  
The Moth Diaries, Mary Harron (Canada/Ireland) 
Alois Nebel, Tomas Lunak (first work) (Czech Republic/Germany) 
W.E., Madonna (UK) (second work) 
Eva, Kike Maillo (UK) (first work) 
Scossa, Francesco Maselli, Carlo Lizzani, Ugo Gregoretti, Nino Russo (Italy) 
La Cle Des Champs,Claude Nuridsany, Marie Perennou (France)  
Il Villaggio Di Cartone, Ermanno Olmi (Italy) 
Wilde Salome, Al Pacino (US)  
Tormented, Takashi Shimizu (Japan) 
Contagion, Steven Soderbergh (US) 
Marco Bellocchio,Venezia 2011, Pietro Marcello (Italy) (documentary, short)  
La Meditazione Di Hayez, Mario Martone (Italy) (short) 
Tahrir 2011,Tamer Ezzat, Ahmad Abdalla, Ayten Amin, Amr Salama (Egypt) (documentary) 
The End, Collectif Abounaddara (Syria)  
Vanguard, Colleftif Abounaddara (Syria) 
Evolution (Megaplex)(3D), Marco Brambilla (US) (experimental film)