“THEORY OF EVERYTHING” EXCLUSIVE AT AYALA MALLS CINEMAS FEB 25

One of the year's multi-awarded films, Universal Pictures' “The Theory of Everything,” the extraordinary story of one of the world’s greatest living minds, will be shown exclusively at Ayala Malls Cinemas nationwide starting February 25.

Nominated for five Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actor (Eddie Redmayne), Best Actress (Felicity Jones) and Best Adapted Screenplay, the film is an inspiring biopic of renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking, who falls deeply in love with fellow Cambridge student Jane Wilde.

Once a healthy, active young man, Hawking (Redmayne) received an earth-shattering diagnosis at 21 years of age. With Jane (Jones) fighting tirelessly by his side, Stephen embarks on his most ambitious scientific work, studying the very thing he now has precious little of – time. Together, they defy impossible odds, breaking new ground in medicine and science, and achieving more than they could ever have dreamed.

The film is based on the memoir Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen, by Jane Hawking, and is directed by Academy Award winner James Marsh (“Man on Wire”).

Screenwriter and producer Anthony McCarten has long been fascinated by Professor Hawking, in particular the time and effort it took for the severely physically compromised man to write his seminal book. "He has illuminated physics for the world, and there is a sense of the profound in all his work," says McCarten. "That was enhanced by Stephen's own physical situation, which only allowed him to compose his communications at the agonizing rate of one word per minute; here, in one man, was an unprecedented juxtaposition of extraordinary mental prowess and extraordinary physical incapacity.
"His mind continued to open up one frontier after another in relentless exploration, so he was contracting yet also expanding which was apt for a man whose life is devoted to studying the universe."

McCarten was moved to read Jane Hawking's memoir Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen. He discovered "a marvelous love story between two people, incredibly intense and challenged in the extreme: first by the physical decline, and then by the advent of fame in their lives. When news of his imminent death proved exaggerated, and two years became 10, then 20, their situation demanded that their love take bold and unorthodox forms if it was to survive. Theirs was a love story without precedent."

Producer Lisa Bruce remarks, "A lot of people don't even think about Stephen Hawking's domestic life, much less know that he walked and talked, and they certainly don't know that he fathered children. When you look deeper into his life, you see so much more than just the genius: you find a father, a husband, and under it all an eternal optimist.

"But, for me, the most powerful element of this story was the sense that he would never have achieved what he did without a partner like Jane."
The marriage would evolve and adapt while Stephen made significant strides in his work. Bruce notes,

McCarten asserts, "For them to have marched through that difficult terrain together and had a marriage that lasted decades was nothing less than a triumph. Stephen and Jane both show us all what human beings are capable of when they set their minds to something. But in writing the script, I had to allow for showing their moods and frustrations that were completely understandable. Our film celebrates Stephen, but it doesn't try to mythologize him; he had very strong negative emotions about the loss of his physical powers and we show that, as well as the highs and lows of the marriage. `The Theory of Everything' is as much about the physics of love as it is about the love of physics."

The charm of critically acclaimed film "This is where I Leave You"

This would be the film of the year, wherein I saw a little of myself. I love the way this was executed to the big screen. I laughed, cried and think a lot after watching this film, and would visit my parents this week to check on them.

Warner Bros. Pictures' endearing family dramedy “This is Where I Leave You” arrives exclusively at Ayala Malls Cinemas nationwide on Dec. 17 with a flurry of rave reviews from highly regarded American critics.

The  story revolves around the Altman's family when their father passed away, four grown siblings bonded together with their mother four grown siblings bruised and banged up by their respective lives are forced to return to their childhood home and live under the same roof together for a week, along with their over-sharing mother and an assortment of spouses, exes and might-have-beens. Confronting their history and the frayed states of their relationships among the people who know and love them best, they ultimately reconnect in hysterical and emotionally affecting ways amid the chaos, humor, heartache and redemption that only families can provide—driving us insane even as they remind us of our truest, and often best, selves.


Variety's resident film reviewer Scott Foundas writes, “`This Is Where I Leave You' is a sprawling ensemble dramedy that starts out like a full-tilt sitcom and gradually migrates to a place of genuine feeling. Repping a concerted effort by `Night at the Museum' and `Cheaper by the Dozen' helmer Shawn Levy to spread his wings beyond the gilded cage of family-friendly tentpoles, this alternately manic and mawkish adaptation of Jonathan Tropper’s 2009 novel aims for `Terms of Endearment' territory and ends up somewhere closer to a Semitic `August: Osage County.' But a tremendous ensemble cast gives the pic a significant boost, especially when they’re allowed to act rather than merely act out.

Continues Foundas, “[A]round the halfway mark, the movie quits trying quite so hard to make you love it and takes on a more nuanced, lifelike countenance. After setting up so many pat, obvious conflicts, Tropper’s screenplay then works through them in a somewhat less obvious fashion. The characters actually end up having to make some hard choices.”

Meanwhile, Betsy Sharkey of Los Angeles Times recommends that she “[C]an't think of a family I'd rather sit shiva with than the Altmans of `This Is Where I Leave You.' They bury their father with the right mix of tears and unearthed resentments, and they take the blows life hands them seriously enough but in stride. As if they are nothing special..This is exactly the charm of Jonathan Tropper's novel on which the comedy/drama is based.”

For his part, Newday's Rafer Guzman applauds, “Shawn Levy's new film, `This Is Where I Leave You,' checks off so many Hollywood boxes that you might suspect it of blatant pandering. Star-studded cast? Check. Based on best-selling novel? Check. Drama, romance, humor and pathos, all set against that instantly identifiable backdrop, the American suburb? Check, check and check.
“Despite or perhaps because of all that, `This Is Where I Leave You' works marvelously. Written by Jonathan Tropper from his novel about a dysfunctional Jewish family sitting shiva for its patriarch, [the film] is the year's first real crowd pleaser, a comedy-drama that presses all the right buttons but does so with intelligence and skill. It's not too heavy, not too light -- just right for a grown-up night at the movies.

Finally, Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter praises, “You laugh in spite of yourself in `This Is Where I Leave You,' a potty-mouthed comedy with enough exasperation, aggravations, long-standing grievances and get-me-outta-here moments of family stress to strike a chord with anyone who’s ever had to endure large clan gatherings that might have lasted a bit too long. The fact that many people will find something or someone to identify with here, even if they don’t have a mother with big new boobs prone to talking about sex most of the time the way Jane Fonda does here, should make Shawn’s Levy’s first R-rated comedy a much-needed hit for Warner Bros. Levy’s orchestration of the mayhem is silky smooth.”

The dramatic comedy “This is Where I Leave You” is directed by Shawn Levy, and based on the hilarious and poignant best-selling novel by Jonathan Tropper. It features a starring ensemble cast, including Jason Bateman, Tina Fey and Jane Fonda.


To be shown exclusively at Ayala Malls Cinemas nationwide starting Dec. 17, “This is Where I Leave You” is distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment company.

“1ST KO SI 3RD” TO OPEN EXCLUSIVELY AT AYALA MALLS CINEMAS STARTING NOVEMBER 12

                Before flying off at this year’s Official Selection to Hawaii International Film Festival (HIFF), the Nova Villa-Freddie Webb onscreen reunion, “1st Ko si 3rd” will open exclusive at Ayala Malls Cinemas nationwide starting November 12.
             
                Written and directed by Real Florido and included in the New Breed Category of this year’s Cinemalaya Indpendent Film Festival (Year 10), “1st Ko si 3rd” introduces the audience to a 65-year old woman, Cory (Villa) married to Alejandro (Dante Rivero) who gets reunited with her 1st love, Third (Webb) and finally the supposed 1st date happens five decades after they got separated.

                “1st Ko si 3rd” also bagged this year’s Cinemalaya Best Actor Award (Dante Rivero). Director Florido muses on the movie’s theme on love and life especially among Filipinos who face the twilight years of their lives, “When we hear about first love, the first things that we imagine are the fondest memories of a person's young love. We instantaneously recreate this image of how they look like back in the days. This time, I want to flip the lenses. I want to show the other side –the point of view of the one who is looking back at a distant memory and at the same time be able to narrate a story of love and life through the eyes of ageing people.  This film aims to do just that. Cory’s story is more than just about her 1st love. It is also about a person’s apprehensions and fears in the life that is waiting during retirement—a reflection of the life of most Filipino retirees.”

Nova Villa, Dante Rivero and Freddie Webb ,  compleat actors round up an amazing endearing cast in “1st Ko si 3rd.”  The movie pans on the first day of her retirement, 65-year-old Cory busies herself by cleaning her house until it was immaculate and spotless. Still, something does not feel right. She is not used to the silence and to spending every waking hour with just her husband, Alejandro. She wonders if this is all she is to do and can expect for the rest of her life, after spending a good deal of it working so hard.

Alejandro notices the changes in Cory. Their fights seem to be a side-effect of Cory’s retirement. Now that she is no longer working, she feels useless as a person and worthless as a woman.

Then unexpectedly, Cory bumps into Third, her first love. Third was the first man who made her fall in love deeply. He was her teenage dream. She cannot forget Third because their first date never happened.

Try as she might, Cory is almost bursting with happiness seeing Third again. Her life suddenly becomes more colorful and exciting as she realizes she can spend her days doing things she never had time for before –learning to chat in the Internet, do idle talks with newfound friends, pamper herself at the salon and do aerobics. Life is definitely looking brighter, especially when Third asks her out. Finally, their first date is about to happen.

Cory brings with her a handful of love letters she never gave to Third, kept all through the years they were apart. She is now ready to give them to her first love. On the day of their first date, Cory will realize what is lacking with her relationship with Alejandro as she discovers if “first love never (really) dies”.




                Real Florido grew up in Caloocan City, a densely populated area in Manila, which inspired him to do his 1st short film “Like A Broken Phonograph”—an official selection to the 4th Chicago Fil-Am Film Festival and film in competition in the 9th Cinemanila International Film Festival.

While finishing bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication as a full scholar in the University of the City of Manila, he managed to get a job or two in different production outfits as assistant and project manager. Shortly after college, he got an assistant director job for ICU BED #7, a film that competed in the 1st Cinemalaya Film Fest. He later worked full time as writer and content producer for GMA 7, a leading broadcasting channel in the country.  He was able to finish cinematography class at Mowelfund Film Institute and made another short film, “Mr. Perfect” that won 3rd place in the 180 Microcinema Film Festival and one of the Supreme Films in the Shoot4Life Filmmarathon Competition in Budapest, Hungary.

Exclusively at Ayala Malls Cinemas nationwide on November 12, log on to www.sureseats.com for advance ticket online purchase and schedule of “1st Ko si 3rd.”