Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum, United 93) re-team for their latest electrifying thriller in “Green Zone,” a film set in the chaotic early days of the Iraqi War when no one could be trusted and every decision could detonate unforeseen consequences. “Green Zone.” Distributed by United International Pictures,  opens in Metro Manila theaters on March 12.

During the U.S.-led occupation of Baghdad in 2003, Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller (Damon) and his team of Army inspectors were dispatched to find weapons of mass destruction believed to be stockpiled in the Iraqi desert.  Rocketing from one booby-trapped and treacherous site to the next, the men search for deadly chemical agents but stumble instead upon an elaborate cover-up that inverts the purpose of their mission.

Spun by operatives with intersecting agendas, Miller must hunt through covert and faulty intelligence hidden on foreign soil for answers that will either clear a rogue regime or escalate a war in an unstable region.  And at this blistering time and in this combustible place, he will find the most elusive weapon of all is the truth.

GREEN ZONE is released and distributed by United International Pictures thru Solar Entertainment Corp. In Cinemas 12 March 2010 (Friday)

MTRCB Rating: R-13

VERA FARMIGA PLAYS ALEX IN UP IN THE AIR

Two months after giving birth to her much-adored son, Vera Farmiga was on set filming Up in The Air for director Jason Reitman, starring opposite George Clooney. Life doesn’t get much more full, or exciting, than that, she notes.

“It was quite a shock to the system and I’m not going to pretend that it wasn’t tough being a new mother and going back to work like that,” she says. “But you know I wouldn’t have missed it. It was a fantastic experience.”

Farmiga was already heavily pregnant when Reitman offered her the key role of the sexy, fiercely independent businesswoman Alex in Up In The Air. Alex meets Ryan Bingham – played by Clooney – on the road. Bingham is literally a fellow traveller – a man who shares the same lifestyle, flitting from one airport to the next, in town for a meeting before moving on to the next place.

There’s an instant, mutual attraction and Bingham – a man who believes he is happy living out of a suitcase with no real human connections – begins to fall for the funny, bright and sensual Alex and senses that life just might offer more than fleeting moments of pleasure in anonymous hotels.

“Playing Alex was like walking a tightrope,” says Farmiga. “I found it challenging because what I admired about her on the one hand is that she knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to go after it.

“It was delicious and rare to see female desire portrayed in such a libertine and shameless way. And in a way, it’s a very masculine portrayal of love and sex and so that was really cool.

“But on the other hand, the challenge for me was to portray that with femininity and make her appealing and not frightening. That’s a balancing act, let me tell you.”

It’s a balancing act that she pulls off with considerable style. Farmiga, who is rapidly gaining a reputation as one of the best young actresses around, was hand picked for the role by Reitman, who went into production on Up In The Air fresh from his critically acclaimed, Oscar nominated triumph on Juno, a bittersweet comedy about a pregnant teenager.

“I saw Vera for the first time in Down To The Bone at Sundance,” says Reitman, “And I thought she was spectacular in that film where she played a heroin addict. And then, I saw of course The Departed and a few other things and she’s just so strong, and she’s capable of such femininity and aggression, simultaneously, and she’s just a woman.  In a world of girls, she’s a woman.”

In fact, Reitman and Farmiga almost worked together on his first film. “I’d met Jason on Thank You For Smoking and it didn’t pan out,” she explains. “So I knew him and I knew his films, of course, and loved them.

“I just think that he’s a really important filmmaker who is really telling stories about social consciousness and awareness. He can take subject matters like teen pregnancy and unemployment – which is at least part of the story in Up In The Air – and throw them on the screen and break fertile ground for comedy.

“It’s very rare to see intelligent comedy of the kind that Jason is so very good at. So as you can imagine, I was delighted when he called me.”

She was also a little worried that the biggest event of her personal life – the impending birth of her first child, Finn  – might rule her out of the frame.

“I think I was seven months pregnant when I first met with Jason and he offered me the role. It meant that I would have to start work two months after I gave birth to my son, Finn.

“And then my son came along and they were so accommodating and the schedule was relaxed, for me it meant shooting two, three days a week. So I found time to exercise and get my very hormonal head straight!

“But I have to say that it was tough. First of all the lack of sleep a new mother experiences is maddening. And your body is not your own – it’s the baby’s. So I think I could have had an easier time stepping into Alex’s very confident, self-possessed shoes and it was tricky at times.

“But at the same time, I felt more empowered and work will do that for you as a woman. The experience of giving birth itself made me feel more womanly and that added to the role in a way – in unexpected, wonderful ways. But it did.”

Working with Clooney was a richly rewarding experience, she says. And far from being intimidated by his fame Farmiga was eager to discover what he was like as an actor and a fellow collaborator. She wasn’t disappointed.

“You know I’m really nonplussed with actors,” she laughs. “I don’t care who they are. It’s been the same since I was a child and I’ve never understood that fanaticism or that worship of fame.

“I looked at George as a collaborator. I respected his work and everything I’d heard about him as a man and as an actor was good. And he was absolutely great. He has such a warm presence and it’s easy to bask in it when you are working with him.

“And you know I think because he has directed himself he is very concerned with the performances of the people around him. His concern was to draw the most delicious performance from me and my mission was to get the best out of him. And it worked really well.

“So I cherished collaborating with him and it wasn’t scary at all – he’s the least scary person you could meet because he’s charm on two feet. And it’s genuine. He has a sense of humour that is so attractive and the most appealing thing about him is his almost childlike zeal for work and his respect for the work and his respect for fellow actors.

“We’re all on the same level as far as George is concerned and he doesn’t pull any bullshit – none whatsoever. So it was very, very easy working with him.”

For Farmiga Reitman’s story – based on the novel by Walter Kirn – is about human connections. Bingham has lost touch with the real world and suddenly finds that the life on the road that he has lived for years is rather empty. He beings to question what the future will hold and hope that, maybe, there’s another, more fulfilling life.

“You know we live in an age where we all communicate by the most impersonal ways – via the Internet and texting and so forth. I think that our story is asking the audience to re-examine their lives, in the way that Ryan Bingham does, and choose what’s important.”

Farmiga was born and raised in New Jersey the second oldest of seven children. Hers was a big, bustling, affectionate family of Ukrainian descent and she found her way into acting via performing with a Ukrainian folk band.

“With my family if there’s any excuse for a get together we do it,” she laughs. “And the guitars are whipped out and there’s lots of singing and dancing. It’s like the wedding scene from The Deer Hunter.

“I came to acting via folk dancing. I became a professional Ukrainian folk dancer in my late teens but storytelling and folklore was always a central part of my relationship with my family, especially my grandparents.

“I actually wanted to become an eye doctor, a surgeon, and I was all set to go to college and study for that. I remember I was playing soccer and I’d been benched because my health papers hadn’t been cleared. That coincided with my heart being broken for the first time and I needed an outlet, something to focus on.

“I didn’t want to just sit there and watch my friends play ball so a friend of mine encouraged me to try out for this silly melodrama and I got the lead. It all started from there, really.”

Farmiga went on to study at Syracuse University’s School of Performing Arts and made her stage debut as the understudy in Taking Sides. Her TV debut came opposite Heath Ledger in the Australian series, Roar.

Her film credits include working with Martin Scorsese on the Oscar winning thriller, The Departed, the box office hit Orphan and the Holocaust drama The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas. She won the Best Actress Award from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association for her performance as a drug addicted mother in Down To The Bone.

She lives with her husband, musician Renn Hawkey, and their son, Finn, in New York State.

UP IN THE AIR is released and distributed by United International Pictures thru Solar Entertainment Corp. In Cinemas 03 March 2010 (Wednesday)

MTRCB Rating: PG-13

Q: What attracted you to this project?

A: I liked Nancy Meyers’ script and I wanted to work with her. And then when I found out that Meryl Streep was going to be in it, I was very excited about working with her too.

Q: What was Meryl like?

A: It’s easy to work with great talented people, and that’s the case with Meryl.

Q: How do you see Jake, your character?

A: Some men remarry a second time searching for the woman they thought they wanted, but forgetting they had gotten older. And I think Jake acts with that kind of information.

Q: Would you say the situations and the characters in IT’S COMPLICATED feel very relatable?

A: Often I hear people say that 10 years after being divorced they regret divorcing their spouse because they have grown up and a lot of the stresses in the relationship have vanished.

Q: Why does Jake go back to Jane then?

A: Because he wants a more mature partner and someone who is less selfish. I feel that Jake is like a lot of men with regrets that bother them; but Nancy Meyers managed to take that and make it funny.

Q: Is that the secret of her success?

A: Nancy is one of the most successful filmmakers when it comes to writing and shooting adult romantic comedies because a lot of romantic comedies tend to be for younger people and the situations tend to be a little more implausible or silly, but what goes on in this movie is very real and honest.

Q: How do you explain Jane’s behavior?

A: We all have our own interpretation of the material, but in my mind Jane doesn’t think too much about going back with Jake until she is forced to think about going forward with Adam.

Q: Why do you think that happens to her?

A: Because the very moment she meets someone who she is attracted to she runs into the arms of someone that she knew. So, as soon as she has feelings for a man – and this is very common with some people- she runs back to her old love. It’s almost as if she had to take that backward step to be able to move forward.

Q: What do you believe she sees in her affair with Jake?

A: Maybe that it’s comfortable and familiar, though probably not very safe.

Q: John Krasinski is also an important presence in the movie, being the future husband of your eldest daughter in the film and the person who is caught in the middle of everything. He is the first to discover what’s going on between Jane and Jake.

A: He is the loveliest guy! And every day he came in to shoot we knew we were going to have a fun day. I was joking with Steve that Krasinski should be hosting the Oscars® with us.

Q: How do you feel about hosting the Oscars® with Steve Martin?

A: The Oscars® has two audiences: the television audience at home and the people in the room – whose life could change that day. And we want to please them both. I predict there will be excitement, tension and women in fabulous gowns!

Q: What was Steve like to work with on IT’S COMPLICATED?

A: Steve is one of the greatest comic actors in the world. He has made films that are so smart, crazy and even indelible. PENNIES FROM HEAVEN, for instance, is one of the most beautiful musical comedies shot in the last 50 years.

Q: After all, he is a world-renowned comedian…

A: Yes, but I also loved him in SHOPGIRL and I am sure that if he finds the right material it would be great to see him do more serious and dramatic roles.

Q: What about your character’s kids in the film?

A: They are fabulous. Caitiln, Zoe and Hunter are so talented!

Q: And Lake Bell, who plays Jake’s wife?

A: She is just wonderful.

Q: Was there any improvising on set.

A: Not really. We were pretty loyal to what was on the page.

Q: What do you like the most about being on a film set?

A: I’ve done this for 30 years and met wonderful people along the way. The movie business is filled with so many talented kinds of people.

Q: Is it hard to balance your careers in television and cinema?

A: I like to do both because I find that movie audiences date you but television audiences marry you. And it’s great when you are sometimes given the opportunity to take your career in a different direction.

Q: In IT’S COMPLICATED the action takes place in California, but most of the shoot was in New York.

A: I don’t work in Los Angeles that much anymore, because my television show is shot in New York. So, I was looking forward to going there. It was very pretty to shoot those exteriors of the house during spring in California.

Q: What do you believe should be taken into consideration when dating people that have been married before?

A: I think that if you are the man you should find out the thing the first husband didn’t do. And the funny thing is that sometimes it can be something as simple as holding the door of a car or sending flowers.

IT’S COMPLICATED is released and distributed by United International Pictures thru Solar Entertainment Corp. In Cinemas 24 February 2010 (Wednesday)
MTRCB Rating: R-13

CASE 39 tells a chilling story in which a woman, whose job is to save broken families, taking a leap to foster a young girl in desperate need. But Emily Jenkins (played by Renee Zellweger) is about to discover that becoming a parent overnight isn’t so easy. It’s a job that dredges up her deepest fears – fear of failure, fear of not understanding, and fear of completely losing control.

Those fears are unnerving enough, but there is another kind of fear that Emily’s foster child Lillith (played by Jodelle Ferland) unleashes into her life and the lives of those around her – a fear found only in the deepest, darkest, most forbidden corners of the subconscious imagination. It’s a fear so tenacious in its grip, it can be fatal.

On the surface, Emily Jenkins’ new foster child is an innocent 10-year-old victim of unspeakable family abuse. The pretty, quiet Lillith is a lonely, haunted child in desperate need of real family love and devoted care. But her appearance doesn’t tell the whole story, and there is far more to this child than first meets the eye. Lillith joins the pantheon of eerie child characters from such films as THE BAD SEED, THE OMEN, THE SHINING and JOSHUA.

When casting Lillith, the filmmakers knew they needed a young actress who possessed unusual depth and skill. They needed someone who could portray a young girl capable of invoking both empathy and abject horror, an actor who could represent the dichotomy of childhood purity and unbridled evil. They looked for an actress who would be so believable in the role that she would shock audiences with her transformation between innocence and demonic fury.  An extensive search led them to Jodelle Ferland, whose impressive resume includes the lead role in Terry Gilliam’s TIDELAND, as well as the hit horror film SILENT HILL. An actress for as long as she can remember, Ferland won her first Emmy at the astonishing age of four.

Alvart continues:  “In a lot of movies that have scary kids, the kids just sort of pop up now and then, but they’re really not part of the story. In CASE 39, Jodelle is really the main character after Renee. We used very little CGI with her, and we didn’t have to because her acting alone is so scary.”

Renee Zellweger was equally blown away by her young co-star. “There’s really nothing that is 12 years old about Jodelle,” she laughs.  “She’s a beautiful soul, a beautiful person and, at the same time, she was able to really scare me. If she wants to charm you, no problem.  If she needs to frighten you, she can.  She is so bright and perceptive; she was able to do amazing things with Lillith.”

“I like doing scary movies,” Ferland admits.  “It’s interesting to be a cute little girl and then suddenly become creepy, because that makes things even more scary.  Lily is in some ways just an innocent little girl, but she can’t help but bring evil with her.  The more people get to know her, the more weird things happen – very, very weird things.”

CASE 39 is released and distributed by United International Pictures thru Solar Entertainment Corp. In Cinemas 03 February 2010 (Wednesday)
MTRCB Rating: R-18

Inspired by the classic Universal film that launched a legacy of horror, The Wolfman brings the myth of a cursed man back to its iconic origins.  Stellar cast include Emily Blunt who essays the role of Gwen Conliff, Sir Anthony Hopkins as Sir John Talbot and Benicio del Toro as Lawrence Talbot a.k.a. The Wolfman

English actress Emily Blunt first broke through with 2004’s My Summer of Love. The following year she co-starred with Bill Nighy and Miranda Richardson in the British TV drama Gideon’s Daughter, and in 2006 earned international renown for her performance in the box-office hit The Devil Wears Prada. This year she starred as eponymous queen in The Young Victoria, directed by Jean-Marc Vallée and written by Julian Fellowes, and in 2010 will appear with Jack Black in Gulliver’s Travels and with Matt Damon in The Adjustment Bureau…
In the film, The Wolfman, Gwen Conliff is the love interest but she is really the picture of purity and she’s the only person who is willing to extend her hand to Lawrence Talbot (played by Benicio del Toro) as he is going through this horrific ordeal. I think she honestly doesn’t believe that it could be real until the end. She doesn’t believe the fears he is having are true. She believes in seeing the best in everyone and it is a rather taboo relationship she is having with Lawrence, because she was engaged to his dead brother.
Sir Anthony Hopkins is perhaps best known for his performance as Hannibal Lecter in1991’s The Silence of the Lambs (for which he won his Oscar®, as Best Actor), its sequel, Hannibal (2001), and its prequel, Red Dragon (2002). Other memorable performances include Magic (1978), The Elephant Man (1980), 84 Charing Cross Road (1987), Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), THE Remains of the Day and Shadowlands (both 2003), Legends of the Fall (1994), Nixon (1995), Amistad, (1997) and The World’s Fastest Indian (2005). He earned Oscar® nominations for The Remains of the Day, Nixon and Amistad. Hopkins received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2003 and was made a Fellow of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in 2008.
He plays the character of Sir John Talbot the father of Lawrence Talbot (played by Benicio del Toro).  Sir John is a man who lives in this vast house up in the Midlands of England and he is a rather eccentric, isolated man who nobody gets to know. Nobody gets near him. He seems, on the surface, to be quite harmless. He is just a little odd. He lives in this old rambling house with a big dog and servant and that’s all. Then other things develop.
Benicio Del Toro is a Puerto Rican-born actor and film producer, best known for his roles as Fred Fenster in The Usual Suspects (1995), Dr. Gonzo in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), Javier Rodríguez in Traffic (2000), Franky Four Fingers in Snatch (2000) and Jack ‘Jackie Boy’ Rafferty in Sin City (2005). He scooped an Oscar® for Best Supporting Actor for Traffic and was nominated in 2003 for his performance in 21 GRAMS. In 2009 he starred as Ché Guevara in Steven Soderbergh’s double-header Ché, for which he received a Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival
Oscar®  winner Benicio Del Toro stars as Lawrence Talbot, a haunted nobleman lured back to his family estate after his brother vanishes.  Reunited with his estranged father (Oscar® winner Anthony Hopkins), Talbot sets out to find his brother…and discovers a horrifying destiny for himself.
The Wolfman is released and distributed by United International Pictures thru Solar Entertainment Corp.  In Theatres 12 February 2010 (Friday)