Darren Aronofsky Reflects on Why He Made “mother!”

Visionary filmmaker Darren Aronofsky (Noah, Black Swan) brings to the screen his most daring and bound-to-be-controversial film – Paramount Pictures' new thriller m o t h e r ! starring Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem.

In Philippine cinemas September 20, the film revolves around Mother (Lawrence) and Him (Bardem) who live in a seemingly idyllic existence in a secluded paradise. But the couple’s relationship is tested when man (Ed Harris) and woman (Michelle Pfeiffer) arrive at their home uninvited. Answering that knock disrupts their tranquil existence and as more and more guests arrive, mother is forced to revisit everything she knows about love, devotion and sacrifice.

The relationship thriller began when Writer / Director Darren Aronofsky spent five fevered days at his keyboard alone in an empty house. The Academy Award© nominated filmmaker knows he might be pressed about the result – Why such a dark vision? His answer? Look around:

“It is a mad time to be alive. As the world population nears 8 billion we face issues too serious to fathom: Ecosystems collapse as we witness extinction at an unprecedented rate; Migrant crises disrupt governments; A seemingly schizophrenic U.S. helps broker a landmark climate treaty and months later withdraws; Ancient tribal disputes and beliefs continue to drive war and division; The largest iceberg ever recorded breaks off an Antarctic ice shelf and drifts out to sea. At the same time we face issues too ridiculous to comprehend: In South America tourists twice kill rare baby dolphins that washed ashore, suffocating them in a frenzy of selfies; Politics resembles sporting events; People still starve to death while others can order any meat they desire. As a species our footprint is perilously unsustainable yet we live in a state of denial about the outlook for our planet and our place on it.

“From this primordial soup of angst and helplessness,” continues Aronofsky, “I woke up one morning and this movie poured out of me.”

His other six films gestated with him for years, but this? In 5 days, he was holding a rough draft of m o t h e r ! in his hands. “Within a year we were rolling cameras.”

Two years after that long weekend, Aronofsky’s film was headed for its world premiere at the 74th Venice International Film Festival (Aug. 30 – Sept. 9), selected to compete for the prestigious Golden Lion Award for Best Film. Its North American premiere is set for the 42nd Annual Toronto Film Festival Sept. 7-17.

Aronofsky admits m o t h e r ! is hard to slot into any one particular genre, and that’s because even he can't fully pinpoint where everything in this film came from: “Some came from the headlines we face every second of every day, some came from the endless buzzing of notifications on our smart phones, some came from living through the blackout of Hurricane Sandy in downtown Manhattan, some came from my heart, some from my gut. Collectively it's a recipe I won't ever be able to reproduce, but I do know this concoction is best served as a single dose – in a shot glass.”

“When Darren sat down to write this story one of the main things he was thinking about was the way that human beings live on this planet and what they do to this planet,” says Producer Ari Handel. “And he wanted to dramatize that by shrinking it all the way down: to one relationship in one house. “I remember when, a few months after we were deep in the script, he came across this book, Woman and Nature, by Susan Griffin. It was a piece of ’70s philosophy that also sketched a parallel between how men sometimes treat women and how people treat the planet. That book reaffirmed for us that we were going to be able to make these two stories, the story of a relationship, and the story of our world, both work at the same time.”

mother! is distributed in the Philippines by United International Pictures through Columbia Pictures.

"Raven" is seeking her true purpose in the "X-Men: Apocalypse"

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

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

                Jennifer Lawrence is back as Raven aka Mystique, a blue-skinned shapeshifter, is seeking her true purpose, as well as elusive self-acceptance.  In the years leading up to “X-Men: Apocalypse,” she had tried to stay hidden from the world, shunning her celebrity as the face of hope and change for the new, mutant-integrated world.  She resists bearing the weight of that label, and feels much of her past doesn’t warrant the world’s perception of her as a hero.

Now, Raven is living by her own code and working independently as an underground mutant savior, to fight against the remaining instances of human exploitation of mutants and save those still being persecuted.

                “The character is more ‘Raven’ than ‘Mystique’ in this story because she cannot be her true mutant self in a world that she feels is still not as mutant-friendly as it’s perceived to be,” says Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence, who first played the role in “X-Men: First Class” and then reprised it in “Days of Future Past.”  “That’s why she has basically been Raven since the events of the previous films, so no one would know she’s that mutant.  When we meet her in this film, she’s been living a covert life as Raven.”  Raven’s mission to help mutants where she can culminates in her leading the X-Men in a massive battle with Apocalypse.  But first she is reunited with the two men with whom she is closest, and with whom she shares a complex and evolving history: Charles Xavier (aka Professor X) and Erik Lensherr (Magneto).  Raven and Charles have a long history together and were part of the original X-Men team.  In the subsequent years they grew apart, separated by both distance and philosophies. 

                Costume designer Louise Mingenbach drew upon the resources and inventory of numerous costume rental houses in the U.S. and Montréal and scoured retail vintage stores across North America to find thousands of wardrobe items needed to dress performers in 1980s apparel from Cairo, East Germany, and the U.S.  For Jennifer Lawrence, Mingenbach took into account Raven’s modus operandi:  “She’s fighting for a cause and is not particularly concerned with how she looks,” says the designer.  She found Lawrence a “Chrissie Hynde type” studded leather jacket and an old rock-‘n-roll t-shirt.  “1983 was the great era of the rocker chick,” says Mingenbach, “and that kind of look reflected Raven’s rebellious nature.”

                It’s mutants vs. mutants when “X-Men: Apocalypse” opens May 18 in cinemas nationwide from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros. (also available in 3D and IMAX)

Academy Best Actress nominee Jennifer Lawrence stars in the inspiring "Joy"

The 25-year-old star,  Jennifer Lawrence who shot to fame in the Hunger Games series, was recognized in the best actress category for her part in Joy at the  2016 Academy Award.

          Close to home, “Joy” introduces us to a woman who carries it all, played by Jennifer Lawrence in the titular role – being a single mom, caring for her parents, paying the bills and working 24/7 just to make ends meet.

                “Joy” follows on the heels of diretor David O. Russell’s “The Fighter,” “Silver Linings Playbook” and “American Hustle,” which between them garnered 25 Oscar nominations.  Each unleashed an unforgettable array of cinematic characters yet also honed in on a singularly compelling idea:  the allure and trials of re-inventing oneself.  Joy takes that same idea somewhere new – as Russell takes on the question of how one person, confronted with madcap circumstances, endless obstacles and a long road of self-searching, forges a meaningful, joyful life.

                While Joy’s life moves forward, the film’s style hearkens back in time, revisiting and redesigning the craftsmanship and melodrama of classical Hollywood cinema for our image-laden times.  The film stars Academy Award® winner Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle, Silver Linings Playbook, The Hunger Games series) as Joy, in a multi-hued portrait that spans from youth to her 40s, from dreams deferred to fighting for her honor to striving for self-fulfillment.

                Says Lawrence: “This is a story about so many things.  It’s not just the story of Joy. It’s about family, imagination, faith in yourself, about the ruthlessness of success and what it means when you find it. I love most of all how much Joy changes.  I loved taking her from vulnerable and self-deprecating to cold and strong, and I loved that she turns into a real matriarch of her family.” 

                Joining Lawrence is a typically wide-ranging Russell ensemble including Robert De Niro as Joy’s hot-tempered yet hopelessly romantic father; Edgar Ramirez as Joy’s ex-husband, a struggling musician living in the basement … with her father; Diane Ladd as Joy’s insightful and influential grandmother; Virginia Madsen as Joy’s soap-opera addicted mother; Isabella Rossellini as her father’s well-off Italian lover; Dascha Polanco as Joy’s life-long friend and confidante,; Elisabeth Rohm as Joy’s rivalrous sister and Bradley Cooper as the mogul-style home shopping executive who becomes both Joy’s ally and adversary.

                “Joy” joins a long legacy of films about chasing dreams of success in business and family -- but it does so in its own comedic, emotional and inventive ways.  The story began with the unlikely but real-life narrative of Joy Mangano, who in the 1990s became a new kind of television star and entrepreneurial powerhouse with a series of household inventions, including the famed, “self-wringing” Miracle Mop, which kicked-off the Long Island single mother’s ongoing business empire.
             

                Says Russell:  “The idea that drew me was how do you tell the story of more than 40 years of a life, from the magic of childhood, through marriage, divorce and single parenthood, to going back to fulfilling on those childhood dreams?  How do you tell the story of a person’s soul – and how that soul is comprised of all the people we love, the ideas we have, the things we cherish?  JOY brings together all these pieces. You have trauma and love.  You have a girl who grows up in her father's metal garage and in her mother’s refuge of soap operas filled with strong women.  You have a dreamer ex-husband in the basement who is still a friend and a loving sister who is an envious rival.  And you have a cable television station in Lancaster, Pennsylvania that becomes a factory of dreams.  In the middle of it all, you see Joy develop a quietly fierce determination that sees her through.” 

                An inspiring, light-hearted film, catch it with family, friends and business partners when “Joy” opens February 17 in cinemas from 20th Century Fox to be distributed by Warner Bros.

Katniss is back for "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay –Part 1"

“THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY – PART 1”
ACADEMY AWARD-WINNER JENNIFER LAWRENCE SETS THE WORLD ON FIRE ANEW ON NOVEMBER 20

Jennifer Lawrence’s Katniss is set to set the world anew on fire as she stands to lead their people in the highly-anticipated third installment of the blockbuster phenomenon that blazed across movie screens around the globe, “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay –Part 1.”

The movie finds Katniss Everdeen (Lawrence) in District 13 after she literally shatters the games forever. Under the leadership of President Coin (Julianne Moore) and the advice of her trusted friends, Katniss spreads her wings as she fights to save Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) and a nation moved by her courage. “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1” is directed by Francis Lawrence from a screenplay by Peter Craig and Danny Strong, from an adaptation by Suzanne Collins and produced by Nina Jacobson's Color Force in tandem with producer Jon Kilik. The novel on which the film is based is the third in a trilogy written by Suzanne Collins that has over 65 million copies in print in the U.S. alone.

The story now accelerates to new, exhilarating levels as the futuristic chronicle of Katniss Everdeen enters into a new realm. The Games may have been obliterated for good, but the fight to survive is about to intensify. Faced with the most daunting odds - and watched by the eyes of a hopeful nation - Katniss must put into motion courage, strength and empowerment against the all-powerful Capitol. This is the moment when she realizes she has no choice but to open her wings and fully embody the Mockingjay symbol. If only to save Peeta, she must become a leader.

The story begins again as Katniss has just been rescued from the destruction of the Quarter Quell. She awakens in a shocking world she didn’t even know existed: the deep, dark underground of supposedly annihilated District 13. She quickly learns of the devastating reality she must face: District 12 has been turned to rubble; and Peeta is being held, manipulated and brainwashed by President Snow in The Capitol. At the same time, Katniss’s eyes are opened to a secret rebellion rapidly spreading from District 13 throughout all of Panem – a rebellion that will place her at the center of a daring plot to hack into The Capitol and turn the tables on President Snow.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 dives further into the fabric of Panem and into the story’s most powerful emotions as Katniss and the nation enter a harrowing but transformative time. Explains returning director Francis Lawrence: “Emotionally, Katniss is like a foreigner in a strange land as this story begins. This is the time when she realizes she can’t stand by and do nothing. There has been too much deception and the people Katniss loves are in danger. She will do whatever it takes to keep them safe.”

The director continues: “The stakes have always been high in The Hunger Games but now the entire world opens up. The Games themselves are gone, but threat of oppression now permeates all of Panem. This chapter gave us a chance to reveal entirely new locations with amazing action sequences. It’s a gigantic movie.”

In her third and most poignant turn as Katniss, Academy Award winner Jennifer Lawrence relished the chance to portray the character at this heightened juncture as she emerges from distress to take her first steps into leadership. “I was excited for Katniss to come into her own as a leader, but she’s still a very reluctant hero,” Lawrence observes. “In the first movie she wanted to save her family. In the second, she tried to save her friends and herself. Now, she starts to realize the impact she has on the wider world and that she has a choice to lead this battle for what is right.”


 That choice does not come easily for Katniss, who recoils at nearly every element of her new life: the militaristic order of District 13, the pressure to perform on cue, and the heart-wrenching reality of war. Katniss remains hopeful that becoming the Mockingjay might truly change things. “As an actor, the challenge was having Katniss wake up in a brand new environment, where she has to rebuild herself from nothing. Katniss has not only left behind her old life as a District 12 victor, she has entered a world unlike any other. Says Lawrence: “She has to get used to a new way of life in District 13. Everything is deeply unfamiliar and it’s all underground, so she can’t even go outside or hunt.”

Lawrence continues about approaching Katniss: “She felt almost like an entirely different character because she is so stripped down and feeling so empty. It’s something that truly does happen to people after 4 traumatic events like she’s been through. Katniss still has the same core, but she’s in a completely different place inside and out.”

Join the revolution when “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay –Part 1” opens November 20 in theatres across the nation (Phils.) – from Pioneer Films.