Was it worth it to go to Singapore for a musical? You bet your fat bottomed girls ass! We Will Rock you was a really fun rock opera to attend. First and foremost because I love the Queen songs. I personally think that this band was pure genius. After all, how can you go wrong with a masterpiece like Bohemian Rhapsody?
Anyway back to the musical. The musical is set in the year 2480. In this future everything is controlled by a giant corporation called GlobalSoft whose job is approve and produce tasteless pop music on the public. Any sign of individuality is illegal. Enter the protagonist, Galileo Figaro, a dreamer who doesn't want to conform to the sterility of everyone. He and his love interest, fellow rebel Scaramoush wind up leading a revolution of Bohemians in the hopes of finding their rhapsody.
In between the story and the fantastic choreography and stage play come in the classic Queen songs we've all grown to love. I couldn't help but to sing the songs as the musical becomes an impromptu Rock Concert.
When I first heard of this series, I immediately dismissed it as a boring family drama. However, a couple of my closest friends kept on telling me that this is a series worth watching. Since I trust their judgement and I was able to borrow the disks from Shiela (Thanks!) I decided to take the plunge into the world of the Walkers. And suddenly I felt like I was sucked into their family.
Brothers and Sisters struck a chord within me because it reminded me of my family. We're big, glamorous and fabulously wealthy (hahaha! JOKE!) Growing up with a family composed of parents with opposing viewpoints and five other siblings each headstrong in his or her own way presupposes certain things. Friction for example is a given. The series is so realistic in the way that it portrays a simple family dinner that starts out nice and erupts into a fighting spree. Reminds me of our Miranda Christmas Eve dinners where the stress of preparing the dinner puts everyone on edge and we wind up shouting at one another until I decided one year to simply just buy food from restaurants.
However, as the series will show you, its not the fighting that matters. It's the patching up. It's how family bonds will carry you through the worst of what life can hurl to you whether its financial crises or the death of a parent. Love for one another is what binds you together DESPITE OF and IN SPITE of each of your differences.
We may all be different, but we all love one another and that is the message that Brothers and Sisters shares with us.
I have always been a fan of musicals so when Hairspray flew into KL theaters you can be absolutely sure that I'll catch it. And catch it today I did. Hairspray is a really feel good movie about the different fitting it. Here's a brief synopsis from Rotten Tomatoes.com.
"et in 1960s Baltimore, the story follows a plump young girl named Tracy Turnblad (played by impressive newcomer Nikki Blonski) on an amazing journey as her dream of dancing on the popular Corny Collins Show becomes a reality. The local television program is a shiny spectacle spear-headed by Corny Collins (James Marsden), a gang of young dancers, and producer Velma Von Tussle (Michelle Pfeiffer), a seductress ice queen whose manipulative ways ensure her daughter Amber (Brittany Snow) gets more than her fair share of screen time as one of the show’s stars. When Tracy shows up at an open call, Velma can barely contain her rage, and sets out to rid the show of Tracy and the talented black dancers who make up the show’s popular "Negro Day." Thus begins a war of talent and a battle for justice, with those in favor of integration meeting many obstacles along the way."
Now that the synopsis is over, let's talk about what I loved about the movie. The musical despite its light hearted spirit talks about serious issues. Chief among them is the right of those who are different to fit in. It's a movie about breaking stereotypes and letting what's just and what's right win. Hairspray benefits from a great cast but what makes the movie really fun to watch is the music. It took every bit of self control for me to stay bolted to my seat and not stand up and dance.
For everyone who has felt different, Hairspray is a movie that you should definitely watch. I bet you'll be dancing your way outside of the theater with a big grin on your face.
"Keep your friends close, but your enemies... open!"
Eto ang talagang super winner na linya sa latest movie ni Toni Gonzaga, Sam Milby at Zanjoe Marudo. Ang kuwento, si Toni ay isang super tough na pulis na si Moe. Dahil sa mga paghihirap sa buhay niya di na siya natutong magmahal. Si Sam Milby (Lt. Kevin) naman ay isang torpeng pulis na kasama ni Toni sa trabaho niya. Ang kakaiba sa pulis na eto ay 1) guwapo siya. 2) May amboy accent siya 3) Mas pula ang lips niya kesa sa bidang babae 4) May MacBook pro siya! So alam natin na fantasy talaga ang kuwento.
Alam na natin ang kuwento. Si Kevin, in love kay Moe. Pumasok sa buhay nila si Caloy (Zanjoe), isang DVD vendor na 1) Masyadong guwapo maging DVD pirate 2) Super galing manligaw. Sa pagpupursigi ni Caloy, natunaw niya ang matigas na puso ni Moe.
In between, maraming suporting cast na nakakabaliw! Abangan ang kuwento sa buko at maloloka kayo! Ano nangyari sa huli? Bakit ko ikukuwento? Panoorin niyo. Hindi siya kagandahan na pelikula pero siguradong matatawa kayo! So watch this movie, pero paki-disconnect ang mga utak niyo para tuluyan ninyong ma-enjoy siya!
300 is a Frank Miller adaptaptation of the war of the Spartans against Persia. In around the year 400BC, the Persians decide to invade Sparta, land of the some of the best warriors known in history. The movie tells the tale of King Leonidas and how we managed to hold off an entire army of Persians with just 300 men. Plenty of bloodshed, you can be sure of, but not a single one of it is gratuitous. This is a movie about honor and pride. It shows the lengths men will travel to defend their way of life and ideals. Plus it doesn't hurt that the effects are so kick ass and the scenery so encompassing that you cannot help but drop your jaw with awe! This is a movie that you should definitely watch. Catch it before it vanishes!
I couldn't imagine myself falling in love with a series about a serial killer, but low and behold, here I am. Dexter is the story of a serial killer named Dexter. What is unique about him is that he kills only other serial killers so in essence he's a "good" killer. He lives by a strict code that directs his kills. What makes this series so interesting is that is allows us a peek into the dark recesses of our souls. In a way I could feel a sense of joy when he kilt those other murderers. Maybe this is why this series attracted me so much. It's twists and turns are enough to make you shout, wtf!?!? Buy this series but be prepared to spend sleepless nights disturbed!
I'm sorry but I must rave about this product. I LOVE THE JOLLIBEE PANCAKE SANDWICHES. It's really a complete sensory experience. It has all the ingredients of a power breakfast. I love the aroma of the pancake wafting through the air as you unwrap the sandwhich. Then the texture of the pancake as it melts in your mouth. This is of course balanced by the strong taste of the sausage, egg and cheese. I've been eating this three days in a row. Shit! Patay na naman ang diet ko! Try it out! The cheese is worth the extra bucks by the way!
After much prodding I finally decided to bite the bullet and watch Zsazsa Zaturnnah. And thank God I did before this run ended once more because it was so worth it. Zsazsa is a work of comedic genius. A non-stop weapon of funniness.
For those who absolutely know nothing about Zsazsa, well it's a play about a comic book heroine who so happens to be gay. In a few words it's a baklang Darna.
Ada, the town's resident parlorista stumbles upon a ridiculously big pink stone. She swallows it and shouts Zaturnnah and viola! He transforms into the voluptuous and sexy Zsazsa Zaturnnah! Protector of the weak.
Zsazsa is supported with her gay best friend Didi (who stole the show for his outrageous interpretation of a gay beautician's assistant), the hunky Dodong, the evil Queen Femina Suastellar Baroux (My favorite for her killer hyfaluuuuting statements) and the Amazonistas.
So what makes this play worth seeing. First and foremost it's the humor. It's an unapologetic mix of gay humor mixed with cutting edge Filipino sarcasm and wit. Second its for the songs. The music is absolutely great! In fact I am listening to it now. Third, creative staging. You'll be amazed at how they utilized a tiny stage to their advantage.
Zsazsa Zaturnnah is Filipino creativity at its best. It's an ode to gay creativity and wit as well as the Filipinos ability to laugh at almost anything.
I heard the next showing is this June. You shouldn't miss this. For one, you can be sure I'll be watching this again!
I love Nick Hornby. Nope, he's not my new boytoy. He's an English author that I fell in love with. I heard about him first because of two movies that I watch over and over again due to its with and neuroticism. They are About a Boy and High Fidelity. And you know what they say, the books are always better than the movies. So i bought the Nick Hornby trilogy collection from Powerbooks. I started reading How To Be Good and it was a page-turner.
How To Be Good talks about the storie of Katie, a London based doctor whose marriage to David is breaking down. They have two neurotic kids, Tom a rebellious introspective 13 year old and Molly a neurotic 8-year old. On the verge of a divorce, David undergoes what can best be described as a "religious renewal" without the religion. He meets a faith healer called GoodNews who convinces him that they would be better of being selfless and doing selfless acts such as sheltering the homeless in their houses and giving away half their material possessions. This puts a dillema on Katie who always prided herself in being the moral one.
The story revolves around how GoodNews affects the couple's dynamics with another. This is a story about a marriage that has gone wrong. Nick Hornby writes with so much sardonic wit. His metaphors and writing is acerbic thereby providing me with plenty of materials to insult people with a British edge.
Will their Katie and David ever resolve their marital problems? What will happen to this family? These are questions that will be answered when you buy this page-turning book.
Before the start of the musical Zsazsa Zaturnnah, I was contemplating buying this disk, but I was afraid that I might not like the music enough to warrant the P350 that I will spend on the disk. Then I watched the play and even thought it was a blast, I still wasn't convinced that I wanted to buy it, until the autograph junkie in me didn't have anything to let Eula autograph so ayan, I bought the thing.
When I ripped it and placed it in my iPod, I realized that the disk was worth every penny. The music of ZsaZsa is upbeat and humorous. I can compare it to the Avenue Q soundtrack. Every song, every line is lined with so much wit. The wordplay is divine.
My favorite tunes include: Parlorista ng Bayan, a rousing piece of the townspeople which lays the scene for the entire musical. Babae Na Ako: Upbeat and funny. Nakakalokang Palakang Kokak: A toungue twister of a song that talks about uhm, a giant frog. The Amazonistas From Planet XXX and Battle Transformation Production Number: Anything that has Amazonistas is the best for me! Ikaw ang Superhero ng Buhay Ko: An Ode to Ada's heroism. Very catchy tunes. Wound up being my LSS on the way home.
So support local musicals! Buy the CD. You'll never regret it.
Talk about your disturbingly perfect dramas. I bought these sets of DVDs one day out of a whim and I got hooked on to it. I mean how can you not? Women who used to be men! Nazi freaks! Serial killers! Crazy mother in laws! Airline crashes! Cogenital birth defects! Scientology! How can you not notice themes like these? Nip/Tuck is one of those shows that drive you nuts with suspense. It's a story about two plastic surgeons and their whacked out life. The irony of the show is that these people make other people perfect but can't seem to do so with their lives. I guess the reason this show is so compulsive is that their lives are so crazy and insane that you wind up feeling good about your own life. Never have I watched a show this screwed up since my favorite soap of yesteryears Melrose Place. Grab this set. As the theme song says, it's perfect.
FCUK! That's what I shouted. The fashion brand, not the invective, when I saw the announcement that Apple finally did good on the rumors and released an iPhone which is an iPod/Phone. Why FCUK? Because I just got myself a brand new iPod!!! Now I need to get rid of it to buy this new baby! Arrghh!! It's an iPod, it's a phone, it's a video and photograpic camera and its a portable computer!!! This means only one thing. STARVATION as I will need to scrimp and save just to purchase this beauty.
The last movie that I watched during this MMFF is actually the best one that I've seen during this film festival. And what shocked me was that I liked it. First, it was a Judy Anne Santos movie. I've never been a fan of Judy Anne but hey, this one worked out.
Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo tells the story of Angie and Jed, two unlikely people who have fallen in love with one another. Angie is a loud middle class journalist whereas Jed is the son of a socialite. Yet, they do fall in love and the story reflects their eloping, getting married, moving in together and surviving an affair. I liked the movie because it portrayed the real hazards of getting into a relationship as serious as marriage. At the end of the day, marriage is all about compromise. It's all about learning to accept your partner for whom he or she is, whether she farts while she walks or he loves collecting Batman toys. It's learning to love him or her despite all his or her shortcomings. So in essence it was a real film.
Kudos to Gina Pareno who turned in an excellent performance as Angie's konsehal longganissa making mother. I loved her acting. She stole the show!
In the end I surprisingly learnt a valuable lesson. That's to accept the ones you love for whom they are. Because if you always remember that what you fall in love with is the person, you manage to conquer any crisis.
Not the best movie in my list but a surprisingly entertaining one. If you must watch only one movie during the film festival this should be it.
Super Noypi is my second movie of the MMFF. The synopsis revolves around a bunch of Filipino teenagers who have super powers which they inherited from their secret superhero parents. As with all superhero ensemble stories they battle evil.
Super Noypi is a technologically advanced movie. The special effects are quite good for a Filipino film. I remember one scene where I was impressed by the Star Wars like Coruscant city shot where flying cars are zipping past each other. What blew me away was the scene where one car started to descend upon the street. I remember squinting and asking myself: "Is that a tricycle?!?" AND IT WAS A FREAKING FLYING TRICYCLE!!! And to demonstrate that it's the future when the girl asked magkano the tricycle driver said P20,000!!! Hahaha!
Unfortunately, save for the special effects, nothing else for the movie worked. The movie was riddled with so many plot holes. I hate it when the audience always winds up asking questions. Like for example when Future Girl Lia (Janelyn Mercado) appears in the garden of Lorenzo (Mark Herras) in a portalet/time-travel capsule, Lorenzo acts like this is the most matter of factly thing. He asks who is she but that's it. What happened to: "WTF is this thing?" "WTF are you from?" Nothing was asked.
Acting also left a lot to be desired. Mark Herras is cute but his the strength of his powers all depends on how he can connect his thick eyebrows and look intense. John Pratts was funny at first but it degenerated into annoyance. In fairness though I loved the idea that his powers come from an aswang heritage. That's a first! But the icing on the cake of horrendous acting is SANDARA PARKS!!! I really HATE her! She is annoying without compare and throughout the movie I secretly was hoping that she would die already. But hey, every movie has an annoying character and she performed this task par excellence. Because if it's annoyance you're looking for, you'll get tons of it here.
In the end, it's a pity when Filipinos think that special effects are all it takes to make a good film. A good compelling story is part of that package. Xmen was really good because it touched on so many themes of ostracism. Spiderman talks about the difficulty of putting balance in your life, something most of us can relate with. If the movie talked about the difficulties of teenage life made more tough with the appearance of super powers then maybe we might have a winner there.
A campy comedy that approximates the campiness of Temptation Island. When Ernest and I caught the trailer of this movie we were quite turned off. Ang feeling namin was that nasobrahan sa kabaklaan.
But hey, today I was glad that we were proven wrong. Don't get me wrong. There's a ton of kabaklaan here but it works to the advantage of the script. The humor becomes so campy that you just can't help but laugh. To be honest I was a bit worried about my straight friends who watched the movie with me. I was scared that they would find the movie uncomfortable but imagine my relief when I saw them laughing to their hearts content!
ZsaZsa Zaturnah tells the story of a gay hairdresser (Rustom Padilla in his first outed role) who discovers a giant rock that grants her superpowers when she swallows it. In other words baklang Darna siya. With her newly discovered powers she fights evil amidst random break outs of song and dance. See, it's not just a Pinoy superhero chick flick? It's also a musical. Helping ZsaZsa is her coterie of supporting characters. Her best friend Didi and her boytoy Dong who did nothing but look good half-naked.
Surrealness seems to be the theme of the film. After all it's only in the Philippines that you can find a touching-slash-disturbing reunion scene between ZsaZsa and her long dead homophobic-father-who-has-come-back-from-the-dead-as-a-zombie break out into a touching song complete with flashbacks of a boy being dunked into a drum of water for being gay? Only in the Philippines talaga! And to complete the montage, there's a bunch of zombie back up singers! Talk about avant garde! This is Philippine cinema at its weirdest!
Then of course there is Pop's Fernandez evil Queen Femina Suarestellar Baroux who spouts out english platitudes that are so surreal that you can't help but fall in love with them. My favorite is still: "So Zsazsa, you will not aid and abet us in our struggles?" What a killer way to use the phrase aid and abet!!!
Thankfully this movie which I feared was going to be a plainjane lackluster of a film found its mystical stone, swallowed it and became the superhero camp classic that will be remembered by gays and their fag hag friends for many generations to come.
I never was a Reality TV show fan but once I got started on it I got hooked. It started with Project Runway then it moved to the Apprentice. Out of curiosity and the goading of my friends I picked up a DVD of America's Next Top Model and I must say I also got hooked! First it was Fashion Designers, not it's Fashion Models. Talk about gay! Hahaha! I guess what really struck me about the show was that it made me realize how difficult it is to be a model. This is surprising for me because being in advertising you'd think you know how difficult it is to be a talent especially after all the terror you put them through as their creative. But then seeing it from their point of view kind of softens the way I treat them. It's no joke to model and the two seasons that I saw showed me how tough it is to be one.
Plus, since you're talking about 13 girls sharing a common space you can be rest assured that their cattiness and bitchiness would come through therefore allowing for some great drama. From face-eating bacteria to afro-american ancestry it's got it all.
My favorite part are the pictorials at the end. They ALWAYS BLOW MY MIND! I just realized how exciting it is to be a fashion creative director. The amount of creativity you can put in every shoot is simply amazing! I'd like to try to conceptualize a fashion shoot one fo these days. In fact that will be part now of my things to do at least once in my life list along with skydiving and scuba diving!
A thing to do with my life. All thanks to America's Top Model!
I know this is a really old movie, but it's Christmas and for the last 3 years I have made it a Christmas custom of mine to watch one of my all time favorite movies. I guess there's no surprise why this film rates a 5 star in my ratings! Love Actually for me is one of those films that you will never lose the kilig feeling. That's a feeling that I haven't had in a long time. I guess the reason why this movie is high on my lists of favorites.
Furthermore, since the movie takes place during Christmas time you really can't help but feel the holidays. Reminds me of the holidays in London (Naks ang kapal!) Love Actually tells the intertwined stories of over a dozen Londoners and how love operates in their lives. And its not just the romantic type of love. All types of love, fraternal, platonic, you name it is shown here. All this occurs amidst the backdrop of Christmas, so you can really feel the snow in the air.
Plus it has a killer soundtrack that I never tire of listening to. Buy it or borrow the disk from me. Ang ganda niya!
One of my all time favorite feel good movies! Perfect movie for the Christmas holidays to remind me that my love is somewhere out there. I just have to wait for that special someone to come into my life.
That way the kilig feelings happen for real and not just reel.
Well this is a series that I picked up from my trusted "Dehbedeh" vendor to while away the holidays. I got struck by this because it's a British series about flight attendants. I don't know what allures me about FA's. I guess it's because I think they have such fantastic lifestyles jetsetting from one place to another. This is the reason why View from the Top is one of my all time favorite movies. But then I digress, so anyway I picked up this series about FAs and low and behold it turns out to be a British series which means one of two things: Either I will completely ADORE the humor or I will LOATHE it. British humor for me is really a hit and miss proposition. So how did this series stack up? Well so-so.
First a brief background. The series chronicles the lives of FA's from a European budget airline called "Fresh." Ang ganda di ba? Fresh Air! Gets? I loved the premise because since it took place in Europe it brought me back to my old haunts in my two year stint in Spain. Places like Barcelona, Alicante, Malaga, Mallorca, Valencia, Rome, Amsterdam and Brussels were visited on a regular basis. I saw the sights that I used to ambulate in and memories started flying in. (Pun definitely intended)
So what's to like and not? Well first and foremost, the humor is a hit or miss. There are episodes where I am rolling on the floor laughing, yet there are moments when I just roll my eyes and groan.
I also didn't like the way they portrayed FAs. I have some friends who are FAs and they are definitely not like the FAs here who are drug addicts, drunks and sexaholics. Hmmm then again a series without these might not work so I guess that's the reason for the artistic license.
In the end the series was an inconsistent show. I hope the second season becomes better. Till then, try it. You may like it. Then again you may not.
One of the best television series that I'm hooked on now. House MD is all about this genius of a doctor who manages to diagnose patients with the weirdest illness. At first you'd think that this is another one of those medical shows but when you get down to it, House MD is actually more like Sherlock Holmes. It's a medical detective story wherein you find out who did the crime (or in this case what the disease is) through a process of deduction and elimination. Seeing them cross out the symptoms of patients one by one brings to life one of Sherlock Holme's chief tenets: "When you eliminate the obvious, whatever remains, no matter how improbable is the truth."
I guess I like House because he really does not let anything stand in his way. His demeanor is acerbic yet you can't hate him because at the end of the day he gets the job done. Plus what's great about this show is that I get to know tons of brand new medical terms for my pseudo-doctor vocab! Ayos!
A virtual masterpiece that shows what happens when you push computer animation to the limits. It's a story about acceptance, about how being different is something that should be accepted and embraced. Happy Feet constantly generates sighs of cuteness as well as wide smiles as you see the funny penguins mingle with one another. The soundtrack is also a killer! You have to get it. A feel good movie perfect for the holidays!
