Movies: Will “Fast & Furious 8” Mark The End Of The Dom-Letty Love Story?

Back to play the iconic rebel Dominic Toretto himself, Vin Diesel knew exactly what he wanted to accomplish for Universal Pictures' Fast & Furious 8, the newest chapter in one of the most popular and enduring motion-picture serials of all time, and the first instalment of the planned final trilogy.

(Watch the featurette Dom & Letty's Love Story at http://youtu.be/dHAjQkBxpOM.)

“I only wanted to continue the saga if we were going to collectively make the best final trilogy for ourselves, for the legacy of our brother Paul, and for Universal, who’s been so supportive over the years,” says Diesel. “With Furious 7, our focus was to not only make the best film in the saga but to honor what it has represented for almost two decades. The key to this next chapter is to challenge those core themes that have endured, and to do it in a way that is compelling but still entertaining.”

Movies: Smurfette Joined By New Female Characters In “Smurfs: The Lost Village”

In Sony Pictures Animation's Smurfs: The Lost Village, Smurfette has lived in Smurf Village her entire life... the same 99 boys every day. But now, she and her best friends are about to go where no Smurf has gone before… through the Forbidden Forest to try to find the Lost Village -- and they find the biggest mystery in Smurf history. It’s going to be the adventure of her life.

“I loved playing Smurfette,” says Demi Lovato, who brings the character to life. “She’s kind and compassionate and really takes care of her fellow Smurfs. But she’s also really brave – she’s adventurous and when she wants something, she goes and gets it. She doesn’t take ‘no’ from anybody, especially Papa Smurf. She’s a strong, independent lady Smurf.

“She’s a one-of-a-kind sort of girl – literally, the only girl in Smurfs Village,” Lovato continues. “She has a really beautiful heart and she’s working really hard to figure out who she is.”

After surviving the Forbidden Forest, Team Smurf are suddenly set upon by strange masked creatures carrying spears. They’re trapped! But that’s when they realize – they have found the Lost Village (which is actually a village hidden in the treetops called Smurfy Grove). And not just that – there are new Smurfs!

“They are not named after what they do – they’re named after nature,” says director Kelly Asbury. “They are not expected to do one thing and specialize – they can do many things, try different things.

SmurfWillow (Julia Roberts) is simultaneously peaceful and fierce – a confident and gentle leader who has raised warrior Smurfs who are capable of anything. Anything she does, she does wholeheartedly.

“If Papa Smurf is the father figure of Smurfs Village, then SmurfWillow is the mother figure of the Forbidden Forest,” says Roberts – “She’s brave, strong, regal and she’s really wise. She’s the Smurf you turn to if you’re facing a challenge.”

SmurfStorm (Michelle Rodriguez) is the no-nonsense, tough-as-nails warrior who immediately questions why Smurfette and the boys have come to Smurfy Grove. Her protective nature makes it hard to trust these outsiders. But through her tough exterior lies a heart of gold, and underneath it all, a girl who would do anything for her family and friends.

“SmurfStorm is a handful,” says Michelle Rodriguez, who voices the role. “She’s fierce and totally protective of her fellow Smurfs, her team. They’re her family. She’ll do whatever it takes to take care of them.”

SmurfBlossom (Ellie Kemper) lights up a room with her huge energy – she walks and talks a mile a minute, she’s never met a Smurf she didn’t like, and she bowls everyone over with her candy-sweet, bubbly personality. Her glass isn’t just half full, it’s overflowing.

Ellie Kemper, of The LEGO Batman Movie voices the ball of enthusiasm. “SmurfBlossom just can’t contain herself,” she says. “She loves life and she’s very chipper and upbeat – almost to the point of being too much at times. She can’t totally contain herself.”

SmurfLily (Ariel Winter) is the whip-smart, no-nonsense member of the Lost Village. She’s not afraid to tell you like it is or to take charge – even when no one asked her to.

“SmurfLily is smart and practical, but she’s full of creativity too,” says “Modern Family’s” Ariel Winter, who takes on the role. “If you have a problem to solve, SmurfLily is your Smurf.”

SmurfMelody (Meghan Trainor) can bust out an empowering tune at just the right moment. “Meghan Trainor wrote a song for us – It’s fun and buoyant and danceable and everything about Meghan Trainor really comes through. The theme is being proud of who you are – which is the message of this film,” says Asbury. “It turns out Meghan is a huge Smurfs fan and admitted to us that the minute she heard we might want a song, she wrote it in one night. She’s so enthusiastic and brought that love to the song and the part of SmurfMelody.”

“I love the Smurfs and was honored when they asked me to write a song for this new movie. I was especially excited – I wrote the whole thing in one evening!” says Trainor. “It’s a song that I love and am very proud of, and I can’t wait for the world to finally hear it! Getting to play a small part in the film with my character, SmurfMelody, makes this all the more exciting! So happy to be a part of the Smurf family!!!”

Opening across the Philippines on Friday, March 31, Smurfs: The Lost Village is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.

MOVIES: INSANE, EXPLOSIVE ACTION IN NEW “FAST & FURIOUS 8” TRAILER

Multitude of cars gone rogue, switching alliances, insane action sequences – Universal Pictures' Fast & Furious 8 has pulled all the stops for its newly-launched trailer which may be viewed at https://youtu.be/CauLB6pD6Ls.

The film is the follow-up to Fast & Furious 7, one of the fastest movies to reach $1 billion worldwide in box-office history and the sixth-biggest global title of all time.

Fast & Furious 8 below opens in Philippine cinemas starting on Black Saturday, April 15, 2017.

In the film, now that Dom (Vin Diesel) and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) are on their honeymoon and Brian and Mia have retired from the game—and the rest of the crew has been exonerated—the globetrotting team has found a semblance of a normal life. But when a mysterious woman (Oscar® winner Charlize Theron) seduces Dom into the world of crime he can’t seem to escape and a betrayal of those closest to him, they will face trials that will test them as never before.

From the shores of Cuba and the streets of New York City to the icy plains off the arctic Barents Sea, our elite force will crisscross the globe to stop an anarchist from unleashing chaos on the world’s stage…and to bring home the man who made them a family.

For Fast & Furious 8, Vin Diesel is joined by a returning all-star cast that includes Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Nathalie Emmanuel, Elsa Pataky and Kurt Russell. In addition to Theron, the series welcomes newcomers Scott Eastwood and Oscar® winner Helen Mirren. The film is directed by F. Gary Gray (Straight Outta Compton) and produced by returning producers Neal H. Moritz, Michael Fottrell and Diesel.

“Fast & Furious 8” is distributed by United International Pictures through Columbia Pictures

MOVIES: A WHOLE NEW WORLD AWAITS IN “SMURFS: THE LOST VILLAGE”

Columbia Pictures Animation's Smurfs: The Lost Village, the fully animated, all-new take on the
Smurfs, a mysterious map sets Smurfette and her best friends Brainy, Clumsy and Hefty on an exciting and thrilling race through the Forbidden Forest filled with magical creatures to find a mysterious lost village before the evil wizard Gargamel does. Embarking on a rollercoaster journey full of action and danger, the Smurfs are on a course that leads to the discovery of the biggest secret in Smurf history!

Featuring the voices of Demi Lovato, Rainn Wilson, Joe Manganiello, Jack McBrayer, Danny Pudi, Michelle Rodriguez, Ellie Kemper, Ariel Winter, with Mandy Patinkin and Julia Roberts. Directed by Kelly Asbury. Produced by Jordan Kerner and Mary Ellen Bauder Andrews. Written by Stacey Harman and Pamela Ribon. Based on the characters and works of Peyo. Executive producers are Raja Gosnell and Ben Waisbren. Music by Christopher Lennertz. Imagery and Animation by Sony Pictures Imageworks Inc. Featuring “I’m a Lady” performed by Meghan Trainor.

For Smurfs: The Lost Village, the filmmakers went back to the drawing board to rediscover the classic, magical look of the Smurfs. “We went through the early comic books and studied the work of Peyo to try to find a visual look for the movie that honored the origins of the Smurfs and how they really look,” says Kelly Asbury, the film’s director. Asbury previously directed the hits Shrek 2 and Gnomeo and Juliet. “That was important to how we conceived each location, the look, the design of the Smurfs themselves, their mushroom houses, the colors.”

The film is loaded with fun as the filmmakers take the Smurfs into the vibrant, exciting, and dangerous world of the Forbidden Forest. “It’s a land they’ve never experienced before – it’s beautiful but full of surprises, dangers, and fun,” says Asbury. “Dragonflies – real fire-breathing dragons that are fun and happy until you make them mad. Flowers that look and smell beautiful but will eat you if you’re not careful. Kissing plants that assault you with kisses.”

Asbury says that the familiar world of Smurf Village and the new worlds created for the film all have the same original inspiration: Peyo – the Belgian artist Pierre Culliford who created the Smurfs back in 1958.. “Peyo’s work has a buoyance and a lightness of being. There was an effortlessness to the way he drew,” Asbury explains. “For the Forbidden Forest and the Lost Village, we wanted it to feel like something that the audience was experiencing with the Smurfs for the first time, but it had to feel like a part of the Smurfs’ world. Darker colors, deeper colors, rich shadows, lots of lush, unusual colored foliage, glow-in-the-dark plants, animals, bugs – all these things were different – but it had the Peyo shapes and language in common.”

The filmmakers also rethought the humor for the film. “We wanted adults and kids to laugh together at the humor, the way they do at the Peyo comics, rather than to have different kinds of jokes – double-entendre humor for the adults and something else for the kids,” says Asbury. “Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, Laurel and Hardy, the Three Stooges – everybody laughs at these types of gags and that kind of humor, and that’s what we tried to imbue into the movie –timeless with a new twist on it.”

Of course, as funny as the movie is, the Smurfs have always stood for the timeless ideas of harmony and peace, and that was not lost on the director. “The message of the movie is really one of teamwork,” says Asbury. “It takes a Smurf Village, if you will, individually and together, to bring everyone together to act as one. It’s about accepting each other’s differences and complementing each other for the greater good. I think that’s a universal message and one that is pertinent today.”

Opening across the Philippines on Friday, March 31, Smurfs: The Lost Village is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.

MOVIES: “FAST & FURIOUS 8” NEW POSTER IS ICE-BOUND!

Universal Pictures has just released the new one-sheet art for Fast & Furious 8, the follow-up to Fast & Furious 7, one of the fastest movies to reach $1 billion worldwide in box-office history and the sixth-biggest global title of all time.

Catch the new poster of Fast & Furious 8 below and watch the film in Philippine cinemas starting on Black Saturday, April 15, 2017.

In the film, now that Dom (Vin Diesel) and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) are on their honeymoon and Brian and Mia have retired from the game—and the rest of the crew has been exonerated—the globetrotting team has found a semblance of a normal life. But when a mysterious woman (Oscar® winner Charlize Theron) seduces Dom into the world of crime he can’t seem to escape and a betrayal of those closest to him, they will face trials that will test them as never before.

From the shores of Cuba and the streets of New York City to the icy plains off the arctic Barents Sea, our elite force will crisscross the globe to stop an anarchist from unleashing chaos on the world’s stage…and to bring home the man who made them a family.

For Fast & Furious 8, Vin Diesel is joined by a returning all-star cast that includes Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, Nathalie Emmanuel, Elsa Pataky and Kurt Russell. In addition to Theron, the series welcomes newcomers Scott Eastwood and Oscar® winner Helen Mirren. The film is directed by F. Gary Gray (Straight Outta Compton) and produced by returning producers Neal H. Moritz, Michael Fottrell and Diesel.
“Fast & Furious 8” is distributed by United International Pictures through Columbia Pictures.