“ANONYMOUS” exclusive at Ayala Malls cinemas starting April 18!

Columbia Pictures' Oscar-nominated thriller “Anonymous” will be shown exclusively at Ayala Malls Cinemas (Glorietta 4, Greenbelt 3 and Trinoma) starting Wednesday, April 18.

Directed by Roland Emmerich from the script by John Orloff, “Anonymous” stars Rhys Ifans, Vanessa Redgrave, Joely Richardson, David Thewlis, Xavier Samuel, Sebastian Armesto, Rafe Spall, Edward Hogg, Jamie Campbell Bower, and Derek Jacobi. 

The film speculates on an issue that has for centuries intrigued academics and brilliant minds such as Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, and Sigmund Freud, namely: who actually created the body of work credited to William Shakespeare? 

Experts have debated, books have been written, and scholars have devoted their lives to protecting or debunking theories surrounding the authorship of the most renowned works in English literature. “Anonymous” poses one possible answer, focusing on a time when scandalous political intrigue, illicit romances in the Royal Court, and the schemes of greedy nobles lusting for the power of the throne were brought to light in the most unlikely of places: the London stage.

It might not seem that Roland Emmerich – best known as the director of the epic blockbusters “Independence Day,” “The Day After Tomorrow” and “2012” – would necessarily choose as his next project a story set in Elizabethan England. However, for nearly ten years, he has wanted to make a film with the Shakespeare authorship question as a backdrop – a yearning that is fulfilled with “Anonymous.” 

Screenwriter John Orloff says he had been fascinated by the Shakespeare authorship question since first learning about the controversy as a 25-year-old graduate student 20 years ago. “My first thought was, ‘Why had no one told me this?!’” he says. “My second thought was that this would make a fantastic film. It had everything – murder, sex, lies, betrayal – truly the stuff of Shakespearean drama.”

 

In writing that story, Orloff centered around the idea of two writers – Shakespeare, the front man, and the true writer, behind the curtain. “Ben Jonson wrote the introduction to the first folio, the first official published plays of Shakespeare – he writes this beautiful, beautiful poem dedicated to Shakespeare who by that point, had been dead for several years. But if you read other Jonson works, some shorter poems or some of his plays, he’s not quite so laudatory of Shakespeare and his poems actually make fun of him and are very angry with him. It made me think that Jonson was talking about two different people – one, the true poet, and the other, a fraud.”

Emmerich was immediately receptive to Orloff’s idea – and the director had some big ideas that he felt the story could support. “The script is very much about the relationship between Ben Jonson, William Shakespeare, and Edward De Vere – that is very much the heart of the movie – but I felt it just needed a little more than that. I asked myself, ‘What was the most important thing in that era?’ and it was clearly succession” – the question of who would follow the heirless Elizabeth on the throne. 

 

“I had a little story about art and jealousy,” says Orloff, “and with that suggestion, Roland wanted to propel the script into a whole new dimension of dramatic possibility.”

PROMETHEUS | 13 Minutes of Haunting Slow Motion - Movie Trailer HD

In the late 21st century, a star map is discovered within the imagery of Aztec, Mesopotamian and Magdalenian cultures. The crew of the spaceship Prometheus is sent on a scientific expedition to follow the map as part of a mission to find the origins of mankind. Exploring the advanced civilization of an extraterrestrial race, they soon face a threat to humanity's very existence.

Prometheus is an upcoming science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott and written by Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof. The film stars Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce, Idris Elba, Logan Marshall-Green and Charlize Theron. The plot follows the crew of the spaceship Prometheus in the year 2085, as they explore an advanced alien civilization in search of the origins of humanity.

Conceived as a prequel to Scott's 1979 science fiction horror film Alien, rewrites of Spaihts's script by Lindelof developed a separate story that precedes the events of Alien, but which is not directly connected to the films in the Alien franchise. According to Scott, though the film shares "strands of Alien's DNA, so to speak", and takes place in the same universe, Prometheus will explore its own mythology and ideas. Principal photography began in March 2011, with filming taking place in Canada, England, Scotland, Iceland, and Spain. Prometheus is scheduled for release between May 30 and June 8, 2012 in various territories through 20th Century Fox.

Blockbuster director ROLAND EMMERICH tackles Shakespearean mystery in “ANONYMOUS”

Best known as the director of the epic blockbusters “Independence Day,” “The Day After Tomorrow” and “2012,” Roland Emmerich now takes on the mystery genre in Columbia Pictures' acclaimed and gripping thriller “Anonymous.”

Set in the political snake-pit of Elizabethan England, “Anonymous” speculates on an issue that has for centuries intrigued academics and brilliant minds such as Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, and Sigmund Freud, namely: who actually created the body of work credited to William Shakespeare?

Experts have debated, books have been written, and scholars have devoted their lives to protecting or debunking theories surrounding the authorship of the most renowned works in English literature. “Anonymous” poses one possible answer, focusing on a time when scandalous political intrigue, illicit romances in the Royal Court, and the schemes of greedy nobles lusting for the power of the throne were brought to light in the most unlikely of places: the London stage.

To be shown soon exclusively at Ayala Malls Cinemas (Glorietta 4, Greenbelt 3 and Trinoma), “Anonymous” stars Rhys Ifans, Vanessa Redgrave, Joely Richardson, David Thewlis, Xavier Samuel, Sebastian Armesto, Rafe Spall, Edward Hogg, Jamie Campbell Bower, and Derek Jacobi.

The Shakespeare authorship question is a debate that started over one hundred years ago surrounding the identity of the works traditionally attributed to the bearded Bard from Stratford-Upon-Avon, William Shakespeare. Was he really the genius behind Hamlet’s tragic life, Romeo’s burning love, and Lady Macbeth’s plaguing guilt? Could the intellectual behind literature’s most brilliant characters be this very ordinary man from Stratford?

So little is known about the man from Stratford that many find it impossible to believe that the son of an illiterate tradesman was the author of such literary masterpieces as “The Merchant of Venice,” “King Lear,” and “Henry V.” His education from a village school could never have provided Shakespeare with a vocabulary extensive enough to write the most talked about literature in the world and there is no proof that he travelled to foreign lands let alone learnt to speak their native tongues. The only written documentation historians can ascribe to Shakespeare is several signatures on official documents with at least six different spellings (Shaksp, Shakspe, Shakesper, Shakespere, Shakspere and Shakspeare).

Aside from the plays attributed to him, there are no manuscripts, letters, journals or poems accredited to Shakespeare, which is quite astonishing, considering this was his legacy. His death in 1616 was met with silence, unlike other celebrated writers of his time, and his illiterate wife and children were bequeathed only his “second best bed” – no money – and even more shockingly, his will mentions no books or manuscripts of any kind.

“Anti-Stratfordians,” those that believe there is reasonable doubt that Shakespeare is the real author of the works, include literary greats, teachers, writers, world-renowned actors, directors and scholars such as Sigmund Freud, Orson Welles, Charlie Chaplin, Mark Twain, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman, Sir Derek Jacobi, and Sir John Gielgud. Whilst some believe in group theories (i.e. that a collective group of writers is responsible for the works), others favor singular writers such as Edward De Vere – the Earl of Oxford, Francis Bacon, or Christopher Marlowe.

Oxford (played in the film by Rhys Ifans) is perhaps the leading alternate candidate within anti-Stratfordian circles due to the remarkable concurrences between the nobleman and the scribe. There are many significant facts to support Oxfordian arguments that simply cannot be debunked by Stratfordians, among them that Oxford took a 16-month tour of the Continent which took him to all to of the cities in Italy with which Shakespeare evinces an easy familiarity, among them Padua, Milan, Verona, Mantua, Florence, and Siena. Another is that “Hamlet” eerily parallels Oxford’s life in an almost autobiographical form, depicting his father-in-law William Cecil as Polonius and his daughter, Anne Cecil, being Ophelia; the Queen herself, on whom Gertrude is modeled, was a surrogate mother to Oxford from the age of twelve and later became his lover. Was it a pure coincidence that Oxford’s annotated copy of the Geneva Bible marks passages that were used by Shakespeare or that Oxford’s nickname was “spear shaker?”

In 1987, US Supreme Court Justices John Paul Stevens, William Brennan, and Harry Blackmun held a mock trial on the authorship. Justice Brennan, the Senior Justice on the case, ruled that the Earl of Oxford did not meet the burden of proof required under the law to claim the authorship, however, Justice Harry Blackmun added that whilst this conclusion was the legal answer, he was doubtful it was the correct answer.

Until such time that there is conclusive evidence or definite proof to support any one theory, theoretically there is no right or wrong conclusion to this debate. However, one important question remains. As long as these masterpieces live on in our cultural conscience, does it really matter who Shakespeare was?

PROMETHEUS Trailer 2 Preview | Cast led by Michael Fassbender, Charlize Theron & Guy Pearce

 

Ridley Scott, director of "Alien" and "Blade Runner," returns to the genre he helped define. With PROMETHEUS, he creates a groundbreaking mythology, in which a team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a thrilling journey to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race.

Stay tuned for a longer HD trailer tomorrow! 

 

Controversial thriller “ANONYMOUS” exclusive at Ayala Malls Cinemas

Set in the political snake-pit of Elizabethan England, Columbia Pictures' new thriller “Anonymous” speculates on an issue that has for centuries intrigued academics and brilliant minds such as Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, and Sigmund Freud, namely: who actually created the body of work credited to William Shakespeare?

Experts have debated, books have been written, and scholars have devoted their lives to protecting or debunking theories surrounding the authorship of the most renowned works in English literature. “Anonymous” poses one possible answer, focusing on a time when scandalous political intrigue, illicit romances in the Royal Court, and the schemes of greedy nobles lusting for the power of the throne were brought to light in the most unlikely of places: the London stage.


To be shown soon exclusively at Ayala Malls Cinemas (Glorietta 4, Greenbelt 3 and Trinoma), “Anonymous” stars Rhys Ifans, Vanessa Redgrave, Joely Richardson, David Thewlis, Xavier Samuel, Sebastian Armesto, Rafe Spall, Edward Hogg, Jamie Campbell Bower, and Derek Jacobi. The film is directed by Roland Emmerich from the script by John Orloff.

It might not seem that Roland Emmerich – best known as the director of the epic blockbusters “Independence Day,” “The Day After Tomorrow” and “2012” – would necessarily choose as his next project a story set in Elizabethan England. However, for nearly ten years, he has wanted to make a film with the Shakespeare authorship question as a backdrop – a yearning that is fulfilled with “Anonymous.”

Screenwriter John Orloff says he had been fascinated by the Shakespeare authorship question since first learning about the controversy as a 25-year-old graduate student 20 years ago. “My first thought was, ‘Why had no one told me this?!’” he says. “My second thought was that this would make a fantastic film. It had everything – murder, sex, lies, betrayal – truly the stuff of Shakespearean drama.”

In writing that story, Orloff centered around the idea of two writers – Shakespeare, the front man, and the true writer, behind the curtain. “Ben Jonson wrote the introduction to the first folio, the first official published plays of Shakespeare – he writes this beautiful, beautiful poem dedicated to Shakespeare who by that point, had been dead for several years. But if you read other Jonson works, some shorter poems or some of his plays, he’s not quite so laudatory of Shakespeare and his poems actually make fun of him and are very angry with him. It made me think that Jonson was talking about two different people – one, the true poet, and the other, a fraud.”

Emmerich was immediately receptive to Orloff’s idea – and the director had some big ideas that he felt the story could support. “The script is very much about the relationship between Ben Jonson, William Shakespeare, and Edward De Vere – that is very much the heart of the movie – but I felt it just needed a little more than that. I asked myself, ‘What was the most important thing in that era?’ and it was clearly succession” – the question of who would follow the heirless Elizabeth on the throne.

“I had a little story about art and jealousy,” says Orloff, “and with that suggestion, Roland wanted to propel the script into a whole new dimension of dramatic possibility.”

“What intrigued me was not just the idea that William Shakespeare did not write the plays,” says Emmerich. “That spark opened up all sorts of avenues for the story, to look at the creative fire in people and to explore the relationship between art and politics – is the pen truly mightier than the sword?”

Tackling a subject that is so widely discussed and documented proved rather tricky for Orloff in the early stages of his script writing. He says, “Writing something that is based on non-fiction and historical material simply has to find a way to balance between fact and drama,” says Orloff. “We tried as much as possible to keep to historical facts – and I’m very proud of how accurate it is, as long as you take the conceit that the movie portrays DeVere as the writer of the works and not William Shakespeare. Not everyone’s going to agree with that!”

“Roland has such a feel for the exciting topics that get people out of their chairs,” says producer Kirstin Winkler. “I certainly don’t think that the film is trying to dictate his story as the truth; it’s just one take on the authorship question, telling one tale.”

That said, Winkler goes on that she expects Emmerich’s film to be controversial. “There is quite a radical group of Stratfordians out there who feel very strongly about preserving the image of Shakespeare as the writer of the plays and sonnets,” she says.

But controversy aside, actor David Thewlis says that the film works well simply as a story. “No matter what you believe, it’s a great story,” he says.