halfwhiteboy

Thanks to a friend, we found ourselves last night in a small building in Makati for a preview of the one-man play  Defending the Caveman . I didn't know what to expect or what it was about in the first place. Turns out it's just Broadway's longest running one-man stand-up comedy show and that this will be the 5th time it will be staged here in the Philippines. The preview was set in a dance studio, quite intimate with just a few rows of monoblock chairs all facing an all-black stage and no sound system was used. The play itself, however, will be staged at the RCBC Theater in Makati.

"It is done." Okay, so let's just get past whatever feeling of disgruntlement you may have about your childhood being ruined by this revisionist take on Sleeping Beauty, shall we? I won't call it a spoiler because we were already made to expect something different from the classic Disney villain, that perhaps Maleficent wasn't pure evil after all. The film explores Maleficent's early days as a young fairy, how she befriended the peasant Stefan, how this guy would later break her heart--and steal something from her--and of course how she ends up cursing Aurora into a death-like sleep. Aided by costumes and prosthetics, Angelina Jolie essays the title role with perfection. I couldn't imagine anyone else playing the role but her. She even doesn't have to do much because even when the scene just requires her to sit or stand, it's Maleficent that we see. But of course Jolie nails those action sequences, and ably shows emotion when called for.

Yeah, I found myself a statuesque lady while we were in Phuket a couple of weeks ago. No wait, it's a boy. No, a ladyboy! We decided to watch Phuket Simon Cabaret on a whim. We just knew it to be a show featuring beautiful ladyboys lip-synching to some song in elaborate production numbers. Funny how quickly we dismissed the idea of watching it back in 2010, thinking marami namang ganiyan sa Pinas (referring to the fact that we also have a lot of lip-synching gay impersonators back in the Philippines). But after watching the show, I have to admit that Simon Cabaret is on a totally different level.

Colorful as they are, I never really paid too much attention to Chinese dragon and lion dances. But that changed when I chanced upon a very different one last Saturday at the Newport Mall of Resorts World Manila--a lion dance on stilts! A lion perched on a pole. Do I hear an "Aww...?" Although not entirely new, these lion dances on stilts, I've just never seen one before. So to watch these Kun Seng Keng kids from Malaysia--who happen to be lion dance world champions, by the way--was pure delight. Resorts World Manila flew them in as part of their Imperial Festival celebrations.

I was fortunate to have been invited to the gala performance of Circus Vargas' Magikaria, A Fantastical Magical Experience last Dec. 23. A two-hour showcase of some good old-fashioned circus entertainment, it was loaded with acrobats, music, clowns, illusions, and more. Prepping up the contraption for that classic magician's assistant's disappearing and reappearing act. It was a rather small setup, with several rows of monoblock chairs flanking all three sides of the stage. It may not have been the most ideal seating arrangement but it was well-suited to the show's intimate and interactive premise. Everyone in the audience can very well see what's happening onstage at any given time. The show opened in a surprisingly low-key manner with just a single performer who immediately surveyed the audience for all sorts of stuff that he could balance on his chin. From the simplest objects like a baseball cap, he sure was able to hold the audience's attention by...

I think I've been living under a rock since I've never heard that there would be a sequel to that abs-baring, testosterone overflow of a movie that was 300. At first I thought it was just one of those faux movie trailers but lo and behold, it is true! And here is our first glimpse of 300: Rise of an Empire :

Superman may be the granddaddy of all superheroes but I've always felt this disconnect from him. Maybe it's because he's an alien. He's also just so... super. Yet he can also be so lame. Nonetheless, I was excited for Man of Steel . After Superman Returns failed to reignite the franchise, a reboot seemed like the most logical way to go for Warner Bros. In Man of Steel, director Zack Snyder takes us back to Superman's origins in Krypton. He sure didn't rush his introduction and he really took his time on the dying planet, which had me thinking how long before this film gains traction. Following his lengthy prologue, Snyder avoids a linear storytelling approach by cutting straight to a scruffy Clark Kent at sea, very much like one of those men from Deadliest Catch on Discovery but very timid, and where the audience gets its first glimpse at Kal-El's heroic deeds. From here on we are taken on a journey, however abrupt, of a man trying to fit in, intersp...

Iron Man 3 is not really a sequel to Iron Man 2 but rather a follow-up to that blockbuster fun ride that was The Avengers . The film takes place after the events in New York City ( Remember that alien invasion action extravaganza? ), which was repeatedly referenced throughout the movie. Apparently it has left Tony Stark scarred, who's now suffering from sleepless nights, panic attacks, and even a bit of paranoia. This third installment in the Iron Man franchise takes on a very Tony-centric approach, and as such, we see a lot of Robert Downey Jr without the tin suit, something reminiscent of the first movie -- heck, even more than the first movie! It was a clever treatment in which we get to see Stark as the real hero, with or without the suit. It was nice to see him make do of what he has, to see gadgets fail, and to once more bear witness to his creative genius. Ben Kingsley as "The Mandarin." While the film attempts an introspective ride, it stops itself shor...

There sure is a lot of buzz building up for the new Michael Bay-produced film adaptation of our beloved "heroes in a half-shell," the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. As it is, those tough green warriors are slowly making their way into mainstream consciousness once again after peaking in popularity in the 90s. But of course, fans would argue they never really left. The turtles with Sensei Splinter. Anyway, while that movie still has a long way to go as it hasn't even started shooting yet, fans can always get their fix of TMNT news  or take comfort in the latest cartoon series on Nickelodeon, which acquired the rights to the franchise back in 2009. And just like the turtles, please do so with lots of pizza on hand. There's also an unofficial fan site  for all things TMNT including news, features, quotes, and more. To the uninitiated, you can introduce yourself to the world of Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, and Donatello with short and comprehensive bios for ea...

So yesterday I had to watch the final installment in the Twilight series with My Bibe. I wasn't really expecting anything but my, oh my, was it one extended piece of nothing but fluff. Spoilers be damned but the two-hour film went just like this: Bella was getting acquainted with her new life as a vampire, the Volturi got wind of Renesmee, the Cullens embarked on a worldwide search for "witnesses," an imaginary fight ensued, and then everyone went home. And oh, what followed was an extended audio-visual presentation (AVP) showing  all the cast members since the first Twilight movie, much like how local teleseryes  do it in their final episode.

Agent 007's latest outing has been heaping praise and at the same time raking in money at the international box office (it has yet to be shown in the U.S.). And rightfully so! I daresay that  Skyfall is one of the best Bond movies ever made in the franchise's 50-year, 23-film history. Daniel Craig as James Bond. [ Source ] Since the 1960's, we all know James Bond to be this suave secret agent with a license to kill. Always perfectly dressed, he's got all the coolest cars and gadgets, and always gets to bed the most gorgeous of women with nary an effort. Bond had single-handedly made being a spy aspirational and such a cool occupation. But the world has changed a great lot since then, and director Sam Mendes has pretty much put this premise front and center, even questioning MI6's relevance in today's world where no one even knows who the enemy is anymore. With cyberterrorism and all, how can Bond keep up? I have to stop myself here to preclude myself f...

So there's much hype -- at least among Filipino people -- surrounding The Bourne Legacy , the fourth installment in the highly successful Bourne franchise. Well, that excitement obviously stems from the fact that a good chunk of the film was shot here in the Philippines, which is hardly a preferred shooting location for a Hollywood film. But how was the movie without the titular character played by Matt Damon? After Damon bailed out on a fourth Bourne movie, they brought in Jeremy Renner. It's no secret, however, that he does not play Jason Bourne but Aaron Cross, obviously a totally different character. Cross is an Outcome agent, one who's enhanced physically and mentally but who has to keep his regular dose of blue and green pills to stay this way. Unlike Bourne, he does not have amnesia.

Set eight years after the events of The Dark Knight , Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy comes full circle with The Dark Knight Rises . As has been said, it's peacetime. Gotham's crime rate is at an all time low and everything seems alright. However, it all but seems like a lull between the storm because a carefully-orchestrated grand plan to bring the city down has been brewing all along. Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) has been reduced to a cane-toting, bearded recluse, languishing in sorrow inside his now-rebuilt mansion, Wayne Manor. His co-conspirator in the cover-up surrounding Harvey Dent's death, Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman), has likewise not been the happiest either. Then the arrival of Selena Kyle (Anne Hathaway), who's been referred to in the film as a cat burglar but never as 'Catwoman,' suddenly pulls Wayne out of his hermit life. Soon enough, everyone else in Gotham is jolted by the brazen -- and very public -- terrorist ma...

Whatever people have to say about Cee Lo Green's flirty attitude towards gorgeous contestants on The Voice , My Bibe and I are very much entertained by his antics. Every time he speaks, he just seems like this slouching, stoned guy who speaks slowly and in a cool, low register. And it's always a pleasure to see him in clips stroking his furry little friend, a Persian cat he named Purrfect , like both of them are stoned. Cats are awesome! Source Cee Lo describes Purrfect as his secret weapon. Although I'm obviously charmed, we'll have to wait and see till the finale if this season's winner will indeed come from his camp.

I just saw this video this morning (then read the accompanying article ): And now I wanna go see this: