GMA Films: The Road

[cinelamour]

The Filipino horror fest “The Road” has a minimal plot — and even that isn’t especially original — but its director/co-writer/cinematographer, Yam Laranas, still delivers a maximum of suspense and horror, working wonders with a small budget.
The three-part chiller opens in 2008, after the promotion of a local cop, who is besieged by a woman to help find her two young daughters, who vanished 10 years earlier, along with a boy. The story flashes back to 1998, and then 1988, to explain who is doing what to whom — and why.
In the first part, the three teens get lost on a deserted, maze-like country road and encounter a driverless car and a bloodied woman with a plastic bag tied around her head. (It’s a motif that Laranas will use several more times.) In the next part, two other girls, driving on the same road, are kidnapped by a backwoods boy, who chains and tortures them. Part three explores the boy’s childhood with his disturbed parents.
“The Road” takes several horror genres and melds them into a creepy, stylishly photographed story that will keep horror buffs revved up from start to finish.


Read more: NY Post

[cinelamour]

Filipino director Yam Laranas’ THE ROAD (opening May 11 in U.S. theaters from Freestyle Releasing) is broken into three distinct parts and, in reverse, tells a story that encompasses both supernatural phenomena and very human evil.

Part one, which takes place in 2008, begins in a way stereotypical enough to make most horror fans gag. Three teenagers go for a drive, they begin to get frightened and horrifying things start to happen around them as they are unable to get off the road. However, the queasy sense of familiarity quickly fades as the teens pull over, and begin to investigate vehicle wreckage in nearby foliage (a plot point brought back up in part two). Hazy figures begin to attack the teens, and while such a scenario seems played-out, there is such striking beauty in the onscreen imagery, it’s hard not to respond to the freshness of the visuals. One very brief moment deserves particular mention: As two of the teens run in fear, a hazy figure can be seen hovering in the far distance. Words can’t describe the impact of that single shot, which alone makes the film worth watching. (This section, interestingly, resembles a number of modern French horror films, including INSIDE, ILS/THEM and HIGH TENSION.)

After a harsh cut, a group of police officers are apparently looking for the three teens we saw in the previous section—which leads us into part two, set in 1998. Two sisters are driving down that same road when their car breaks down, and an awkward young man just happens to be walking by at that moment. They head back to the boy’s house, where he clubs them over the head and locks them inside—yes, here we go again, as THE ROAD falls back into that dreary land of tired storylines and tormented victims.

And yet, although the parallels between parts one and two are almost too clear, the equivalence gives the audience an understanding of events that are unclear at best as part one comes to a close. The primary function of the midsection is to offer an explanation for the supernatural occurrences during the opening act—and to serve as a gateway into part three, which more broadly defines the reasons behind everything we’ve seen up to this point. Fascinatingly, as each part of the film unfolds, previously unexplained imagery and story points are explained in complete detail, creating a depth within THE ROAD that often goes missing in modern horror.

In the third and final section, which plays out in 1988, the story of that murderous young man’s childhood is explored. Confined to his house, with a brutally cracked mother and God-fearing, incapable father, he starts down the path to homicidal tendencies. As opposed to part one’s visual reminder of French horror cinema, this segment offers a distinct parallel to A TALE OF TWO SISTERS—not only in tone, but in specific content.

The disjunction of the editing, which creates a disconnection in the flow of the story, is not enough to detract from all the positives that THE ROAD offers. Another problem is the score, which too often directly hits on the action and interferes with the psychological subtext that the visuals elicit. The film might have been better off with more minimalistic music, or none at all. But these issues do not weigh heavily enough to detract from the many qualities of THE ROAD, whose overall effect stays with the viewer for days—which is what truly makes it worth seeing. The intricacy of the multifaceted plot is difficult to sum up in just a few paragraphs, but one thing is certain: THE ROAD is a gift to horror fans, and shouldn’t be missed.

Fangoria

[shimmer23]

taas niya sa rotten tomatoes!

[christina_skater]

Hi to all Kapuso!

Hi po watch po tayo ng movie of Coco Martin and Angeline Quinto! May 30 na po! God bless po!

[saboteur]

thank you for the info. i knew this movie is not the first that got international spotlight in US.

finally, a ray of light from Philippines that I can enjoy.

im tired of seeing one genre films from PI like romance and under privileged good guys get bullied over and over without getting a good advantage

this is a film that the protagonist will try to solve a tough case. it has the creepiness, mystery, horror and great musical scoring...

...so i gotta need a new girl to date tonight. its not about what country the movie came from, its about the movie itself.

[15805]

The Road
Opening weekend gross: $61,200
Theaters: 50
Average: $1224

Sukob
Opening weekend gross: $31,626
Theaters: 3
Average: $10542

[Hapee_Angel]

The Road (2012)
Domestic Total as of May. 13, 2012: $61,200 (Estimate)
Distributor: Freestyle Releasing
Release Date: May 11, 2012
Genre: Foreign / Horror
Runtime: 1 hrs. 50 min.
MPAA Rating: R

50 theaters, $1,224 average

http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=road2012.htm

[baby_danny]

Maganda siya in fairness... sana mapanood ng mga tao.. nakakagulat lang na sobrang hindi kumita to sa pinas... ok naman siya eh.. ganda ng twist.. ayoko lang yung part 1 part 2 part 3 chuchu!

[Hapee_Angel]

The Road (2012)

Domestic Total as of May. 15, 2012: $72,057

Domestic Summary
Opening Weekend: $56,692
(#42 rank, 50 theaters, $1,134 average)
% of Total Gross: 78.7%
> View All Weekends
Widest Release: 50 theaters
In Release: 5 days / 0.7 weeks

http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=road2012.htm

[felinatv5]

Rhian Ramos @ The Road Hollywood Premiere

[felinatv5]

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx...ticleId=806797



From left: Rhian Ramos, Marvin Agustin, Manny Pacquiao, Derrick Monasterio and Alden Richards


The starry road to Hollywood
(The Philippine Star) Updated May 14, 2012

MANILA, Philippines - At 5:30 p.m. on May 9 (U.S. time), the stars of GMA Films’ horror film

The Road

walked down the red carpet and posed for the foreign media covering the film’s Hollywood Red Carpet Premiere held at the Arclight Theater in Los Angeles, California.

The Yam Laranas film, which received rave reviews from both local and foreign press and also caught the attention of New York Times, is now showing in the US and Canada through a distribution deal between GMA Films and US-based film distribution company Freestyle Releasing.

Seen attending the event were cast members Marvin Agustin, Rhian Ramos, Alden Richards and Derrick Monasterio with GMA Films president Anna Teresa Gozon-Abrogar, Freestyle presidents Susan Jackson and Mark Borde, GMA Films project director Joey Abacan and Laranas.

Manny Pacquiao, MTRCB chair Grace Poe-Llamanzares, GMA Entertainment TV vice president Marivin Arayata, GMA Entertainment TV AVP Redgie Magno, GMA Corporate Communications AVP Angel Javier-Cruz and Tim Yap also graced the affair.

After The Road’s screening, an after-party followed at The Lure, a club beside Arclight Theater.

GMA Films and Freestyle Releasing held a press conference last May 8 at the Barrio Fiesta Restaurant in Glendale, Los Angeles. It was attended by representatives from US-based Filipino media outfits.

The Road will also be shown in selected theaters in Singapore beginning tomorrow, May 15.

Talks between GMA Films and other film releasing companies are also underway for possible distribution of The Road in other countries.

[felinatv5]

http://www.pep.ph/guide/movies/10263...p-film-critics




Last week, Philippine horror movie The Road premiered in theaters in the United States. The stars of the GMA Films movie even attended a red carpet premiere in Hollywood to launch the movie.

Directed by Yam Laranas, The Road tells the story of three teenagers who get lost in an abandoned road in the middle of the night. Flashbacks were then used to show why the horrors were born in the area.

The Road, written by Direk Yam and Aloy Adlawan, stars Rhian Ramos, Barbie Forteza, Alden Richards, Carmina Villarroel, and Marvin Agustin.

The Road premiered to mostly positive reviews in the Philippines last year. What was praised was its outstanding atmosphere, its efforts to move away from the horror genre's derivatives, and the exceptional cinematography.


However, it wasn't entirely free from criticism, as Filipino critics also commented on its clunky exposition, its unnecessary length, and the ending, which featured a seemingly forced twist.

The trend continues in Hollywood, as American top critics review The Road.

Reviews are mostly positive. The Road scored 71 out of 100 (generally favorable reviews) in Metacritic, a website that features movie reviews of critics.

The Road also carries an 83% approval rating from America's film critics, as shown in Rotten Tomatoes (as of May 12). Eight top critics reviewed the movie, and all of them gave The Road fresh ratings, or high scores.


Jeannette Catsoulis of the New York Times praised The Road for its atmosphere.

"A powerfully atmospheric blend of ghostly encounters, horrific situations and missing-persons mysteries," writes Catsoulis.


V.A. Musetto of the New York Post said The Road delivered wonders even with a small budget.

He comments, "The Road takes several horror genres and melds them into a creepy, stylishly photographed story that will keep horror buffs revved from start to finish."

Mark Halcomb of the Village Voice praises The Road's uniqueness.

"Call it a haircut of Psycho with ectoplasmic additives, The Road still has a whispering menace and visual grandeur all its own," says Halcomb.


But The Road is not immune to negative comments.

Rob Nelson of film magazine Variety praised the narrative but shot down its technical side.

Nelson points out, "This low-budget shocker eventually pays off, displaying just enough narrative ingenuity to compensate for a cinematically crude and logistically sketchy deployment of the requisite bloods-and-guts mayhem."


Robert Abele of the Los Angeles Times said The Road is scary, but the storytelling is not as polished.

"The Film's three-pronged narrative does a fair job of laying a spooky groundwork for the revelatory emotional sadism that lies behind most acts of evil; it just takes a bit of clunky exposition to get there," Abele writes.


Andrew O'Hehir of Salon.com, meanwhile, commented that The Road is "compelling", even though the narrative is not as smooth.

"If it's patchy and derivative it also has a compelling, soapy
undertow that kept me watching," he said.

Bill Goodykoontz of Arizona Republic said The Road is creepy, but believed the story "doesn't always quite hold."

Lastly, Stephen Whitty of Newark Star-Ledger thought The Road elevated the horror genre, even though it avoided the staples horror films are known for.

"This philosophical film helps elevate the film above the usual
scared-teenager shocker although, sometimes, the film ignores the bread-and-butter demands of the genre," he said.

[bebs12]

The Road
Opening weekend gross: $61,200
Theaters: 50
Average: $1224

Sukob
Opening weekend gross: $31,626
Theaters: 3
Average: $10542

Sukob in 3 theaters, in fairness kumita naman nang 300k gross in total gross.. not bad..
http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=sukob.htm

The Road so far makes 82k in total gross in 50 theaters.. luging lugi sila dito at mukhang wala na sa mga sinehan.....
http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=road2012.htm

[MarionRivero]

Yup, pinull-out na po. 7 days lang siya pinalabas sa U.S. Anyare?

The Road (2012)

Domestic Total as of May. 17, 2012: $82,747
Release Date: May 11, 2012
Widest Release: 50 theaters
In Release: 7 days / 1 weeks

CALENDAR VIEW: http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?pag...d=road2012.htm

CHART VIEW: http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?pag...d=road2012.htm


#KalerkeyOneWeekLangPalaPinalabasSa50TheatersAtYanLangAngKinita

#MalakiPaKinitaNgEveryBreathYouTakeSaFirstDayOfShowing





#MayPinasawsawPaWaleyPaDin

[felinatv5]

[felinatv5]

http://www.journal.com.ph/index.php/...p-for-the-road

Thumbs up for 'The Road'

GMA Films’ The Road gained favorable reviews from two major U.S. newspapers, The New York Times and The LA Times, in time for its commercial release in the United States this week.

NY Times described the Yam Laranas thriller as “tightly written and spookily shot” film and “a powerfully atmospheric blend of ghostly encounters, horrific situations and missing-persons mysteries,” adding the plot is “impossible to predict.”

The LA Times shared NY Times’ opinion.

It said, “the film’s three-pronged narrative does a fair job of laying a spooky groundwork for the revelatory emotional sadism that lies behind most acts of evil.”

After The Road premiered locally in 2011, GMA Films signed a deal with international film distribution outfit Freestyle Releasing for the film’s U.S. distribution.

On May 9, it held a red-carpet premiere at the Arclight Theater in Los Angeles, California, followed by an after party at The Lure.

The Road is currently showing in 50 theaters across the U.S. It started showing in Singapore on May 15.

[Hapee_Angel]

Yup, pinull-out na po. 7 days lang siya pinalabas sa U.S. Anyare?

Showing pa siya sa US, eto update. Kaya lang..


The Road (2012)

Domestic Total as of May. 21, 2012: $89,675
Release Date: May 11, 2012

http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?pag...d=road2012.htm

[felinatv5]

http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/360241...c-wears-palmos



Rhian Ramos dons Curata creation in Hollywood; Kapuso exec wears Palmos
May 23, 2012, 2:31pm

MANILA, Philippines — Rhian Ramos, one of the lead stars of “The Road” that had its red carpet premiere at Mann Chinese Theater in Los Angeles last May 9, wore to the event a gown especially created for her by top fashion designer Ito Curata.

Apparently, Curata had a special purpose in mind when creating the gown, revealed the actress.

“I was informed that casters from international companies will be attending, so I’m hoping that I get noticed somehow. Or that they will come to see that Filipino actors can also act and that they can be part of their movies. Perhaps that’s the ultimate dream, that at least one of us, gets noticed and gets cast in an American film. It will really be a big deal as Hollywood is considered the ‘mecca’ of actors around the world,” said Rhian in an interview.

GMA Artist Center VP Ida Henares accompanied Rhian and the rest of the cast donning a Nono Palmos creation. Henares stood out at the Arc Light theatre not letting the stars outshine her classic, elegant beauty exhibiting Palmos’ internationally renowned design.

Boxing icon and Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao was one of the big name celebrities who showed up at the premiere of GMA Films' horror movie in Hollywood.

Pacquiao said: “It’s a good experience to be here and I’m supporting my friend Rhian and I love it.”

“The Road” is released commercially in North America through a distribution agreement with Hollywood-based Freestyle Releasing. It began screening in more than 50 theaters across US and Canada last May 11.

While abroad, Rhian will do shows for GMA Pinoy TV, including starring in a primetime teleserye together with Aljur Abrenica and Kris Bernal under the direction of Maryo J. delos Reyes.

[Hapee_Angel]

The Road (2012)

Domestic Total as of May. 23, 2012: $91,353
Release Date: May 11, 2012
Widest Release: 50 theaters, $1,134 average
In Release: 13 days

CHART VIEW: http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?pag...d=road2012.htm

[jmdarcega]

Ok guys..."The Road" is a real flop despite its well thought story, great editing and such. Sad to say, without star power even the best stories would not make a profitable film in the Philippines.