Tag Archives: Hollywood

Film and TV, Sports

MANNY PACQUIAO NOW AN OSCAR-VOTING MEMBER OF AMPAS

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imageHOLLYWOOD, California (The Adobo Chronicles) – Oscar winners are decided by more than 6,000 voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, but not every actor, director, producer, writer, cinematographer, etc. is an automatic Oscar voter. One has to be invited by the Academy.

Champion boxer Manny Pacquiao has just been invited to be an Oscar voter, the first known full-blooded Filipino to be afforded such privilege.

The Academy invited Pacquiao by virtue of his newly-released documentary, “Manny” starring himself and narrated by Academy Award winner Liam Neeson.

The honor is yet another feather in the cap for Pacquiao who, aside from being an eight-time world boxing champion, is also a Philippines congressman, recording artist, basketball playing coach, and  beauty pageant judge (he was on the judging panel of the most recent Miss Universe Pageant).

While his documentary is not eligible for this year’s Oscars, it will be for next year.

Asked by The Adobo Chronicles if he would vote for himself and his film, Pacquiao said, “Op kors!” (Of course). Not surprising since Pacquiao is used to many a hometown decision in his long career.

The Internet site NeverTooEarlyMoviePredictions has a list of more than 4,000 confirmed Academy voters — about 70 percent of the total — in case you want to find out if your favorite actor or director is an Oscar voter.

Here’s to Pacman, Fried of the Pilipeens! (Pride of the Philippines)

Film and TV, International, Law Enforcement, Travel

‘FAST & FURIOUS’ ACTOR VIN DIESEL DENIED U.S. VISA

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Hollywood, California (The Adobo Chronicles) – New York-born Hollywood actor Vin Diesel, famous for his role in the movie ‘Fast & Furious,’ was denied a U.S. visa, according to reliable sources at the U.S. Embassy in Manila.

Diesel recently made headlines when his application for Philippine citizenship was approved. He had purchased a beachside property in Boracay, Central Philippines, a white sandy beach resort town considered one of the best in the world. Becoming a Filiipino citizen made him eligible to buy property in the island nation (Non-citizens cannot own real estate property in the Philippines).

When it was time to return to America to work on his current film projects, Diesel had to apply for a U.S. visa at the U.S. Embassy in Manila. While the Philippines recognizes dual citizenship, the U.S. does not. Unfortunately, Diesel’s visa application had been denied.

The Hollywood actor now joins the ranks of thousands upon thousands of Filipinos who could not get visas to travel to the United States.

Well, at least he has a prime beach property to his name. Perhaps his ongoing movie projects can be filmed entirely in Boracay?

Diesel’s latest completed film project, ‘Furious 7’ is set to be released in the U.S. on April 7, 2015.

Film and TV, International, Technology

SONY PICTURES NOW FILMING “THE INTERVIEW PART 2”

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Kim Jong-chul, older brother of Kim Jong-un
Kim Jong-chul, older brother of Kim Jong-un

Hollywood, California (The Adobo Chronicles) – Literally just hours after it released  ‘The Interview’ on Google Play, YouTube Movies and Xbox Video, Sony Pictures announced that it has started filming the sequel to the controversial movie about the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

It is believed that the movie which stars Seth Rogen and James Franco was the reason that lead to the hacking of Sony Pictures.  North Korea is suspected of being responsible for the cyber attack.

Sony Pictures had earlier cancelled the Christmas Day release of the film, a move that was criticized by many in Hollywood, as well as President Barack Obama.

The video release of the film is expected to generate hundreds of millions of dollars for Sony Pictures, given the worldwide publicity it has generated because of the cyber attack.

Riding on what it expects to be a huge financial success, Sony has signed up Rogen and Franco to do ‘The Interview Part 2.’  The new plot revolves around the assassination of Kim Jong-chul who is Kim Jong-un’s reel and real-life older brother.  The film sequel begins with the Jong-chul succeeding his assassinated brother and becoming the new North Korean supreme leader.

Sony Pictures refused to answer reporters’ questions on whether Kim Jong-chul ends up being assassinated in the film sequel.

Asked whether the sequel will be released in theaters or on DVD, a spokesperson for Sony said that the decision will come after it has tallied its profits from the DVD release of ‘The Interview’ (Part 1).