LOTUS: Cast Lines Up As ‘Shadow Transit’ Director And Star Reunite This Fall
Plot details are under wraps.
sonny sison
Review: Revenge Thriller MARIA Pulsates With The Emergence Of A New Action Heroine
You can certainly bet from a local perspective that a film like Pedring Lopez’s new thriller, Maria, has been a rarity in the Philippines for years. There’s been actioners, but not as much and certainly not to the same measure and scope as other productions, and gladly, there’s been a pretty visible sea change in recent years in that regard. For this, a film like Maria is a reasurring sign of better times ahead with much deserving ceremony. Maria begins with our titular lady assassin, donned in black and descending unto a quiet home as she lays waste to the perimeter of armed guards at every turn. Her name is Lily (Cristine Reyes), and she’s the killer of killers, a prime leading member of the Black Rose – enforcers of the De La Vega crime cartel. Her story fast-forwards seven years later when she’s far and apart from heyday as […]
MARIA: Netflix Snags Cristine Reyes Action Thriller For May 17 Release
Try looking for writer/directing Pedring Lopez’s 2016 action horror, Nilalang, anywhere stateside and if you’re lucky, you’ll find it under some innocuous, generic title thanks to whatever schmuck snagged it for a legit U.S. release. It’s what’s always irked me – the dismissive, flippant way distributors handle Asian titles. That habit seems to haven’t dissipated, and thankfully, Netflix took notice in the wake of Lopez’s most recent feature outing, Maria, which hit theaters late last month to promising audience and critical responses. Set to stream worldwide on May 17, actress Cristine Reyes stars as the former member of a criminal cartel forced out of hiding to dispense vengeance when her new lease on life is violently interrupted by the very crime family that nearly had her executed. The project marks Reyes’ first action role from a script by Lopez and co-writer Yz Carbonel, and with Sonny Sison (Nilalang, BuyBust), overseeing […]
Meet MARIA In The Official Red-Band Trailer For Pedring Lopez’s New Revenge Thriller!
Earlier this month saw Viva Films offering a small dose of the action to come in director Pedring Lopez’s new film, Maria. Now slated for a March 27 release, Cristine Reyes fronts her first action role in what looks to be nothing short of a thrilling contender for this year’s rousing feats since Erik Matti’s BuyBust put the Philippines on the map just a little more for genre fans. Cristine Reyes stars as Lily, a former cartel assassin who begins her new life as Maria—a new life suddenly cut short when the cartel learns of her whereabouts. Soon, the hunter becomes the hunted and a new fight wages on with revenge as the ultimate prize. Lopez, who co-penned the new action thriller, also reunites with Sonny Sison (Nilalang, BuyBust) who services the explosive action and fight scene goodies to fawn over, and there’s plenty of it to sample in the […]
MARIA: Production Is Underway For Pedring Lopez’s Assassin Thriller
The recent surge of excitement from Erik Matti’s new crime thriller, BuyBust, has done well in gracing the action genre a much needed spotlight in the Philippines. It’s an effort continued with the ongoing work of filmmaker Pedring Lopez who took hold of the festival scene a few years ago for cult action horror, Nilalang, with Cesar Montano, Meg Imperial and Maria Ozawa starring and now he’s back at it with the current production of assassin revenge thriller, Maria, featuring actress Christine Reyes in the title role. When former cartel assassin, LILY, deliberately betrays her organization, she is brutally executed and left for dead. Unbeknownst to her former crime family, she has faked her own death and begun her new life life in seclusion as MARIA – a life suddenly cut short when the cartel learns of her whereabouts. Soon, the hunter becomes the hunted and a new fight wages […]
Review: Erik Matti’s BUYBUST Pays With Intriguing Relevance… And Lots Of Bodies!
One of the most delightful things anyone might hear upon learning of a film like Erik Matti’s new crime opera, BuyBust is who will star. I didn’t know who Anne Curtis was until XYZ’s own Todd Brown broke the news at ScreenAnarchy on top of other updates regarding training of the cast, as well as the director’s own subsequent passionate testimonials on Facebook, and I have to say, in wake of its 100% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, this film has done an incredible job selling itself. The reviews and residual reactions stemming from its festival run and recent release in The Philippines have been mostly positive, that is, apart a few articles I’ve come across that have been critical in nature. It surprised me a little, though it wasn’t necessarily unexpected, varying opinions and so on and so forth. Indeed, BuyBust, a milestone production for a market that has […]
MARIA: ‘Nilalang’ Director Teases Female-Centric Action Thriller With A Sultry New Poster
Look forward to official extra details later this month as market news arises. For now, we can assert that while Nilalang director Pedring Lopez isn’t touching on Dacascos/Southworth vehicle, Breach anytime soon, instead, he’s switching gears and readying female-centric actioner, Maria, with actress Cristine Reyes who appeared in the Metro Manila Film Festival favorite of 2012, El Presidente. A highly trained cartel assassin. She was a former special forces member trusts into the life of crime due to the generals she works for. She was supposed to do one last job, but when she deliberately missed her target, a wife, and child of a senator that is causing problems for the cartels she became the target. Now the hunter becomes the hunted. she was eventually captured and brought to a boat where she was beaten RAPED and tortured, she managed to fight her way out to escape from her captors […]
A Case For Better Action Movies: Mark Dacascos’s SHOWDOWN IN MANILA Fights For 80s Ensemble Action Glory, Loses
Star bodybuilder, journalist, author and crossover film producer and action star Alexander Nevsky refuses to be pigeonholed into playing the stereotypical Russian bad guy in movies. This is a campaign he’s been on for the better part of the last twenty years or so in the course of his growing film career and it’s a worthy effort to pursue in an industry rife with a constant need for change and improvement in many ways. Characteristically, that fact plays well into filmic vision and direction despite the cult fondness of a genre or a given period of cinema. Nevsky’s latest lead role in the new ensemble action thriller, Showdown In Manila, makes for a worthwhile case in point as we approach its upcoming North American release from ITN Distribution. Granted, Nevsky’s screen presence isn’t the most weighted in drama, while one can argue in favor of his ability to tell stories […]
BUYBUST: Anne Curtis Reinvents The Standard In A Newly-Released Proof-Of-Concept
Heralded director Erik Matti’s newest crime thriller, BuyBust, is easily one of the most anticipated movies of 2018. The film itself has notably become a point of hype for aspirations toward change and progress for Filipino action cinema, such is what stunt director Sonny Sison had been pushing for in his own proliferation in the region for sometime now. Signaling this is a proof-of-concept he assembled with leading lady Anne Curtis who principally stars in the film opening next month. The footage below was reportedly filmed before production began last year as a nod to what was possible and as it stands, hails with some pretty grand potential with Matti attributing much of it to Curtis’s own dedication as well. “This is nowhere near what we have done for the movie in terms of the difficulty and scale of what our actors have to go through.” says Matti in a […]
Mark Dacascos Tapped To Star In Pedring Lopez Actioner, BREACH; Dan Southworth In Talks To Join
Look forward to some extra updates in the coming months going into 2017 for director Pedring Lopez’s latest action horror hit, Nilalang, now making the festival rounds for its year-end movement. In the meantime, Lopez and the film’s stunt director, Sonny Sison have been working under the table for a project of their own now set to begin shooting next Spring. For this, we turn to the new film, Breach, which has action star Mark Dacascos attached and actor and martial artist Dan Southworth in talks to star while plot details remain pending, according to City On Fire. Both have a notable history the martial arts genre leading up to their 2013 stint together in Kevin Tancharoen’s Mortal Kombat Legacy: Season 2, while Dacascos has since taken to a more active role behind the camera as of late with his directorial debut, Showdown In Manila starring Alexander Nevsky. The film […]
Watch The New International Trailer For Pedring Lopez’s Award-Winning Action Horror, NILALANG (THE ENTITY)
The Los Angeles Philippine International Film Festival is where to be this Friday night if you wish to catch a screening of director Pedring Lopez’s new movie, Nilalang (The Entity). The screening will be held at 7:30pm PST while Lopez continues to plot the festival course thereafter along with furthering prospects of a North American release after winning several awards at the 41st Manila International Film Festival late last year. SYNOPSIS: NBI special crimes division agent Tony (Cesar Montano) encounters an evil entity which is bent on killing and torturing beautiful women, one of which was his girlfriend, years after he have thought to have killed the malevolent spirit. People close to Tony is in danger including his partner Jane (Meg Imperial), who has romantic interest towards him with everyone in the agency aware of this fact except for Tony. The spirit, who has killed many people in Japan, is […]
Review: Ozawa Brings Notoriety To Lopez’s Substance In NILALANG (2015)
In covering a lot of action movies or film in general, you don’t always hear of instances of porn actors and making transitions to more serious careers in acting. When you do, though, it does present an interesting sense of appeal, and for me, considering some of the surprises I’ve seen in the action genre, I’m certainly no one pigeonhole anybody into a category, and I think many would concur with me. That said, in the case of director Pedring Lopez’s new action horror, Nilalang, I think at least one of the biggest factors in this film’s press coverage was the casting of former adult entertainer Maria Ozawa – one of actually two former adult entertainers on my radar making their leap forward to more solid film roles. It’s a noteworthy effort to make, and especially here for Ozawa who co-stars with a lead cast led by actor Cesar Montano, […]
Get Ready For A Facelift In The New Action-Packed NSFW Trailer For NILALANG!
Have no illusions about actress and former adult entertainer Maria Ozawa. She’s come quite far from her former trade and since adding action movies to her craft, she now has a starring role as a Yakuza princess along side actor Cesar Montano that commands definitively more for her screentime. For this, we now get a look at the new action horror thriller, Nilalang from director Pedring Lopez and now well into post-production ahead of it’s screening at the Metro Manila Film Festival upon its December release. The first trailer has arrived with all the trimmings of a movie that dares to push its fair share of envelopes… or charge at them with a sword, whichever works best. SYNOPSIS: The story tells of Tony – an NBI agent hot on the trail of a series of rapes and killings that counts, among them, Tony’s girlfriend, Tin. With his co-agent, Jane, they […]
Check Out Maria Ozawa In This Latest Production Still For Philippine Action Horror, NILALANG
Production for director Pedring Lopez‘s latest action horror, Nilalang, starring Cesar Montano, is already underway with plans to be ready by December 25 in lieu of the forthcoming Metro Manila Film Festival this year. For this, it’s a rare thing to see adult entertainment performers transition to formidable acting roles, but it does happen. Point in fact, observe Japanese AV idol Maria Ozawa in her debut acting role as the heiress to a Japanese organized crime syndicate as per Dennis Empalmado’s script. WeLovePost’s own Cody Miller, Rex Lopez, Wesley Villarica and Maia Yambao-Lopez are producing with stunt sequences directed by none other than Sonny Sison and assistant action director Jeff Centauri who co-stars as Ozawa‘s bodyguard. Take a closer look at Ozawa in the still below, as well as the synopsis just beneath. Nilalang” (“Entity”) will tackle the underworld of corrupt Philippine cops and the Japanese Yakuza and its links […]
GRACE UNDER FIRE: An Interview With Actor, Stuntman And Producer, Sonny Sison
One of the earlier fortunes I had in starting my blog back in 2013 was getting acquainted off and on with actor and stuntman, Sonny Sison. Granted, in months prior to that, I had just seen him in the 2008 action thriller, Broken Path, which is still one of the most fascinating films I had ever seen, and for a number of reasons. Last week, I had the opportunity to share a dialogue with Sison about the film among several others within the span of his career in the past two decades. Having cut his teeth as an actor and stuntman over the years, primarily as a suit actor on the AmeriToku crossover series, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, and having recently worked with a number of familiar faces fans know and love, I would say there’s plenty of reason to bookmark him as someone worth looking out for in the […]
Sharpen Your View With New Pics From THE BLADED HAND 2
Every now and then, a documentary comes along that inspires some reflection and changes the way you view a specific topic. For martial arts enthusiasts, such a documentary can be found in the recently released film, The Bladed Hand, a critically acclaimed and intricate retrospective into the world of the Filipino Martial Arts, hosting an eclectic array of interviews with fight professors and martial arts masters, as well as stuntmen and fight choreographers for film and television. The film became a huge success upon its DVD and Vimeo VoD release last year since earning its praise with several screenings back in 2012, so much so that a sequel is currently underway as of November last year, with writing and producing trio, Jay Ignacio, Kent Vives and actor and stuntman Sonny Sison (Broken Path, The Lackey, Godzilla), back on board to bring the next film to life. And with a large […]
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