'The Echo' opens today

Author: Sun.Star
Column: Davao, Entertainment

THE Echo, the very first Hollywood film directed by a Dabawenyo, will have its regular theater run starting Wednesday. The horror-thriller-mystery is directed by Yam Laranas.

Also opening today are the crime-horror flick The Horsemen and family fares G-Force and Aliens in the Attic.

Extended are Surrogates and The Final Destination. The Echo

Laranas' The Echo is the American remake of his earlier film Sigaw, an acclaimed Filipino thriller.

The movie has the same plot, but has different twist than its Filipino version.

The Tagalog version has Richard Gutierrez playing a bachelor who savors his independence from his parents in a dilapidated apartment. The English version has Jesse Bradford as a young ex-convict who moves into his mother's old apartment as part of his parole provision.

Bobby's mother died while he was in prison serving three years for killing a man who tried to rape his girlfriend Alyssa (Amelia Warner). The apartment is still full of her things, still bearing all the signs of the mental breakdown that preceded her death.

Bobby is looking to build a fresh life but where to begin? His old friends have either moved away or won't return his calls; his girl has moved along with her life without him, he has no job.

Despite being constantly surrounded by the noise and bustle of New York City, Bobby is isolated and alone.

Worse, his new life is further interrupted by the family next door; a cop named Walter (Kevin Durand) likes to abuse his wife (Iza Calazo) and young daughter. The husband is a very violent man, given to bouts of rage at the drop of a hat.

But what can Bobby do, since he's an ex-con and Walter's a cop? The horsemen

Aiden Breslin (Dennis Quaid) is a bitter detective emotionally distanced from his two young sons following the untimely death of his devoted wife.

While investigating a series of murders of rare violence, he discovers a terrifying link between himself and the suspects in a chain of murders that seem to be based on the Biblical prophecies concerning the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death.

The White Horseman, an unexpected leader bent on conquest and master of deception. The Red Horseman, a sharp witted warrior intent on turning men against each other, with an innocence that hides a burning rage within.

The Black Horseman, a manipulative and dark tyrant; always one step ahead. The Pale Horseman, an executioner with disarming strength, set on spreading death through surgical precision. Are you ready for them? Come and see. G-Force

G-Force centers on the latest evolution of a covert government program to train animals to work in espionage. Armed with the latest high-tech spy equipment, these highly trained guinea pigs discover that the fate of the world is in their paws. Tapped for the G-Force are guinea pigs Darwin (voice of Sam Rockwell), the squad leader determined to succeed at all costs; Blaster (voice of Tracy Morgan), an outrageous weapons expert with tons of attitude and a love for all things extreme; and Juarez (voice of Penelope Cruz), a sexy martial arts pro; high-tech surveillance fly Mooch (voice of Edwin Louis); and a star-nosed mole, Speckles (voice of Nicolas Cage), the computer and information specialist. Aliens in the attic

Co-scripted by one of the writers of Madagascar and the Academy Award winning Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were Rabbit, Aliens in the Attic is an adventure/comedy about kids on a family vacation who must fight off an attack by knee-high alien invaders with world-destroying ambitions - while the youngsters' parents remain clueless about the battle.

Reluctant to join a weekend vacation with his family, Tom Pearson (Carter Jenkins) is stuck with concerned parents, a bratty older sister (Ashley Tisdale) and her conniving boyfriend Ricky (Robert Hoffman), a weary grandmother (Doris Roberts), and members of his extended family. There's also another problem: midget aliens have crashed into the attic and they're looking to take over the human race.

While the parents don't seem to notice anything wrong, Tom and the other kids team up to defend their home from the tiny green menace, while one alien, Sparks (voiced by Josh Peck), befriends the gang, hoping to convince his fellow creatures that peace is an option.

Published in the Sun.Star Davao newspaper on October 7, 2009.

Source: Sunstar Daily