PARANORMAN

if you are a loner kid with a third eye, you might be able to relate to Norman Babcock -- an eccentric kid who can also speak to ghosts. apparently, no one believes in his abilities except his friend, Neil. in this clip for the kids, Norman is called to save his town in a curse taken centuries old.

as they are plagued by zombies and other horrific incidents, Norman is joined by an unexpected companions, executions to stop the curse didn't go as planned.

ParaNorman, this movie shot in stop-motion and in 3D format tells us how one can be brave and make a change without superpowers. in case of Norman, he makes it to prove himself and even save his town from the bewitchment.

opening soon in the Philippines, ParaNorman is made by Laika Entertainment, distributed by Columbia International Pictures, Philippines.

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BONA review

admitting i'm a fan of the one and only Eugene Domingo, it was a great pleasure seeing her comeback to the theater scene in PETA Theater's BONA, where she plays the title role.

BONA is based in the 1980's movie by Lino Brocka, starring Nora Aunor and Phillip Salvador. with the same style of plot while set in contemporary Manila, BONA is about a call center agent who became a fan of a talent search Star of Tomorrow wannabe, Gino Sanchez (Edgar Allan Guzman).

after hearing his story in the show, she has already connected herself to him and devoted all her resources. despite of the hopeless future for the actor, she continues to support him in every way possible until she loses most things she had. and with chosen circumstances, Bona had developed a romantic feeling as Gino found better ways to take advantage of her.

it was long before Bona realized that Gino is taking advantage of her. her exhaustion from efforts and money giving in to the media people to save Gino's career, caused her to get angry to Gino and even herself. she didn't even listen to the people around her about the things happening because she fell in love. now that she had nothing, also a potential lover is not an answer to come to when she needed help.

we saw Eugene's flexibility as an actress and this was a tedious work for her. grateful to PETA for offering her the role as she misses her first stint as an actress. it's good that they capitalized first on Eugene's strength as a comedienne and we were introduced on how she can be a dramatic actress. bravo in every single scene, even her co-actors, Edgar Allan and the rest.

also, the story development draws audiences to the highs and lows. first part is a sitcom where you would obviously have fun. you'll get to know Bona more and what she does. you'll know her friends and family too. i swear, you'll love them all. and as the story progresses, you will wish to save her condition and applaud her as she redeems herself.

another character which maybe unsung from the other reviews is her landlord, (Juliene Mendoza) who gives the striking lines, pick-up lines that is.

Bona is written in such a way where its audiences will easily relate to Bona. her character, her friends, her dreams and it seems that Bona help us realize that we are all like her in many cases. so the lesson here is how we can control ourselves and still love.

PETA's BONA runs from August 24 - September 23, 2012 at the PETA Theater, #5 Eymard Drive, New Manila, Quezon City. tickets are still on sale at Php 1000, Php 800 and Php 600. please support Philippine arts.

photo credits Jory Rivera of BroadwayWorld.com

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THE CAMPAIGN movie review

if you put Zach Galifianakis and Will Ferrell in one movie, you're sure to have a hell of a riot. especially when they fighting their beliefs and for a position in this political movie, THE CAMPAIGN. brought to us by Warner Bros. Philippines, opening in theaters, August 29.

the story is about a district in North Carolina where two CEOs aspire for great influence in. in an upcoming election, they have found opportunity to seize the long term rule of Congressman Cam Brady (Ferrell) by giving him a rival as Marty Huggins (Galifianakis), a naive director of local tourism.

both were completely different from each other and each has their own bullet to shoot. the war for the post has cost them with their reputations and even their families.

their rage has been on the news. each action would be the talk of the town and would ever influence the choice of the voters. and when they realized that they have not been professional and diplomatic, and it has not been helpful to the district, the greatest answer would be honesty. besides, it is ever needed to any politician in any part of the globe.

i really like Marty Huggins slogan for the campaign, "Let's clean up America, it's a mess!" which is i think very applicable nowadays. we've been making mess and all we do is rant it to the government. as politicians, they need their constituents to perform their programs well and hand-in-hand everybody will be able to fulfill their dream as a nice community.

the movie is very hilarious, a midst the trash talking and obscene scenes, we're all to know that everybody are human beings and subject to faults and wrong doings. all we have to be is conscious of our acts and following the Rotarian 4-way test: is it the TRUTH? is it FAIR to all concerned? will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS? will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?”

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HILDA KORONEL against THE MISTRESS

it's been more than five years that we missed Ms. Hilda Koronel in the movies and television. but now, she's back for a wonderful project. she plays the legal wife in a 4-sided love story entitled, The Mistress. the said movie is also Star Cinema's offering in celebration of 10 years of the Bea Alonzo - John Lloyd Cruz love team.

The Mistress is an imperfect love story with the right people trying to commit the right things for themselves. the mistress, played by Bea Alonzo, is a reinvention of her character into a braver, bolder and into a more passionate role. watch out also for quotable lines within the movie that Ms. Hilda Koronel will deliver.

according to Ms. Hilda, she has enjoyed her stay out of the country though she misses her life in showbiz and of course, the Philippines. she also witnessed how young talents do their roles very well, especially the talents from Star Cinema. aside from this project, she was also invited to do roles in more films and soaps but she has to screen them in order to provide us, viewers, the quality of acting Ms. Hilda Koronel has.

Ms. Hilda also celebrates her family life with 4 grandchildren. her kids are all successful right now both here and abroad which makes her very proud.

THE MISTRESS will be shown in Philippine cinemas starting September 12. for more updates on the movie, follow @starcinema on Twitter and www.facebook.com/starcinema

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the magical world of THE WIZARD OF OZ

kids will definitely have an extravagant view in Repertory Philippines' The Wizard of Oz which opens tomorrow, August 18. the Theater for Young Audiences section of RepPhils has developed the show in every sense in which eyes will never be taken out of the stage and still provide an underlying lesson to think about. a very colorful show featuring the adventure of Dorothy, Tinman, Lion and the Scarecrow in search for the wizard to grant their wishes.

just like in the movie with Judy Garland as Dorothy, the beginning of the program is it's sepia tone. but colors appear grandiosely as the story progress. most vibrant colors are in the world of the Munchkins.

and the Emerald City are in its greenest! the entire stage transforms to hundreds of shades of green and there's this undefinable feeling. it's like you don't want to change a channel when you're watching TV because of the great show you're seeing.

they won't sing the songs from the movie, it's not a Hollywood staging. but songs are as catchy as you can sing them after you saw it. it's like a green disco ball at the end of the road where people dance and just have fun. on the other hand, it's also a place where people find answers.

our actors are good storytellers. not to mention under the direction of Ms. Joy Virata who has been given notable recognition after the show. how do i love theater when they bring me back to my childhood?

photos taken from (Repertory Philippines Facebook page)

the show will be running until December so it's also great to see it in the Christmas season. it is at Onstage theater in Greenbelt 1, Makati City.

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the costumes of RepPhils' WIZARD OF OZ

it's so amazing how costumes would be for tonight's show of Repertory Philippines' The Wizard of Oz. the production should be very proud of how this will turn out in the eyes of the audience tonight.

aside from the stage, that will definitely be candy-colored, the actors might really look like dear toys to the eye.

the first costume that i noticed is Elhaba's oufit which really resembled Maleficent's dress. they look fierce as each other.

as i saw the costumes of the Tinman, Lion and Scarecrow, i noticed that the details are quite nice. the Lion looks fuzzy and cuddly, the Scarecrow's scraps are well made together as developed from scratch and the Tinman glares in the spotlight with its metal cover.

costume designer Raven Ong made an excellent job putting the costumes all together. even the Oz citizens are very happy with the outcome.

Repertory Philippines' The Wizard of Oz opens tomorrow, August 18 and will run until December 16, 2012 at Onstage in Greenbelt 1, Makati. see you at the Yellow Brick Road and let's all take it while saying, "There's no place like home."

photo credits: Raul Victor Montesa

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EUGENE DOMINGO is BONA

in tribute to renowned and multi-awarded director, Mr. Lino Brocka and only Philippine superstar, Ms. Nora Aunor, the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) brings the classic story of fan and idol in the modernized BONA. starring Eugene Domingo as Bona and Edgar Allan Guzman as Gino Sanchez. playing from August 24 to September 23, 2012 at the PETA Theater Center in Quezon City.

in today's rendition of Bona, Bona is a call center agent who finds an eye to Gino Sanchez who comes out from a TV talent search, Star of Tomorrow. she followed Gino's career and eventually invested all of her strength, time and resources taking care of the actor. his father and friends tried to stop her from doing it, but her admiration grows into obsession despite that the actor only has the poor reputation in the industry. on the other hand, this opens the idea for Gino to abuse Bona's efforts and take all her resources. even more, he seduces Bona. what's left is, will Bona stay as Gino's emotional slave or will she regain her normal self as the people around her wishes her to be?

back on the theater scene, Eugene Domingo finds herself grounded again and devoted her time to all duration of the run. she remembers when she starts from theater in UP where she had a very strict training, very different from the PETA crowd where she had a fun time. although, she thanked both theater companies for molding her talent the way we appreciate it today.

one of the major discussions during the press conference is her long kissing scene with Edgar Allan who is relatively young from her. Edgar noted that it was sweet but Eugene stressed that it was minty. she had to prepare very well of the scene as it will be more talked about when more people see it on stage.

BONA starring Eugene Domingo is presented by the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) under the direction of Soxie Topacio.

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