A STAR-STUDDED lineup awaits music lovers as both local and international acts are gearing up to perform on stage throughout the year. Whether it\u2019s pop favorites, balladeers, rock bands, rap trailblazers, or indie darlings, there will be something for everyone up ahead.
\nHere is a rundown of live music this year \u2014 so far.
\nYesung\u2019s Unfading Sense
\nJan. 6
The Korean singer and member of veteran K-pop group Super Junior, Yesung will stage his solo show, Unfading Sense, following the release of his solo album of the same name in October 2023. He will be performing at the New Frontier Theater in Cubao, Quezon City.
\nCircus Music Festival 3
\nJan. 6 – 7
Over at the Circuit Makati Events Grounds, the third part in the Circus Music Festival series kicks off on Jan. 6 and 7. It has Ely Buendia headlining on the first day, along with acts like Juan Karlos, Silent Sanctuary, Armi Millare, Mayonnaise, 6Cyclemind, and many more. On the second day, the headliners are Parokya ni Edgar and Kamikazee, with musicians like Zack Tabudlo, Al James, Unique Salonga, Sponge Cola, and more keeping the ball rolling.
\nSeventeen\u2019s FOLLOW
\nJan. 13 – 14
K-pop boy group Seventeen is returning to the country for a two-night concert this January at the Philippine Sports Stadium at Ciudad de Victoria in Bocaue, Bulacan, as part of their FOLLOW concert tour. However, members Jeonghan and S. COUPS will be absent due to \u201crehabilitation treatment and recovery\u201d from injuries.
\nMark Tuan\u2019s The Other Side
\nJan. 14
Rapper and GOT7 member Mark Tuan will be performing at the SM North EDSA Skydome on Jan. 14 for the Asian leg of his The Other Side tour. His show is organized by concert promoter PULP Live World.
\nNyoy Volante and Klarisee de Guzman
\nJan. 19
Star Magic Music Room presents Nyoy Volante, considered by some to be the \u201cKing of Philippine Acoustic Pop,\u201d and Soul singer Klarisse de Guzman collaborating for a show this January. It will take place at the Vue Bar of the Bellevue Manila Hotel in Muntinlupa.
\nColdplay\u2019s Music of the Spheres
\nJan. 19 – 20
British rock band Coldplay\u2019s Music of the Spheres world tour will be making a stop in the Philippines \u2014 their second-ever visit \u2014 this time performing at the Philippine Arena at Ciudad de Victoria in Bocaue, Bulacan, for two nights. OPM singer Jikamarie will be the opening act for both nights.
\nNCT 127\u2019s The Unity
\nJan. 21
K-pop group NCT 127 will be flying in this month for their third tour, The Unity. The nine-member boy group will be performing at Bulacan\u2019s Philippines Sports Stadium, brought to the country by PULP Live World.
\nMelanie Martinez\u2019s PORTALS
\nJan. 23
Alternative-pop singer-songwriter Melanie Martinez will stage a show at the World Trade Center in Pasay City. Her tour, Portals, is named after her newest album which she is promoting. It will be a standing-room only concert.
\nThe Rose\u2019s Dawn to Dusk
\nJan. 26
South Korean indie-rock band The Rose is returning to the Philippines a year after their first visit, this time taking the stage of Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City. In addition to concert tickets, they are allowing meet-and-greets, soundcheck access, Q&A sessions, and exclusive merchandise for VIP packages.
\nThe Jets
\nJan. 26 and 27
The Jets, the American 1980s family pop band, known for hits like \u201cCrush on You,\u201d \u201cYou Got It All,\u201d and many more, is returning to the country for a two-night concert. They will be performing at the Newport Performing Arts Theater at Newport City in Pasay City.
\nBrent Faiyaz\u2019s It\u2019s A Wasteland
\nJan. 28
Live Nation PH is bringing R&B singer-songwriter Brent Faiyaz to the Philippines for a one-night performance at the New Frontier Theater in Cubao, Quezon City. It will be the Manila stop of his It\u2019s A Wasteland tour.
\nENHYPEN\u2019s Fate
\nFeb. 3
The seven-piece K-pop boy group ENHYPEN will be back in the country over a year after their first visit. On Feb. 3, they will make history as the first act to individually headline a show at the New Clark City Stadium in Tarlac which is part of their Fate tour in Asia.
\nMr. Streisand
\nFeb. 10
Some of the country\u2019s best singers \u2014 Michael de Mesa, Arman Ferrer, Audie Gemora, Franco Laurel, Jett Pangan, and Michael Williams \u2014 will perform in a concert featuring a repertoire of Barbra Streisand songs. With stage direction by Mark Bautista and music direction by Rony Fortich, the concert will be held at the Music Museum at the Greenhills Shopping Center in San Juan.
\nSCRUBB
\nFeb. 10
Thai duo Scrubb, composed of Thawatpon Wongboonsiri and Torpong Chantabubpha, will be in the Philippines in February. Their concert will take place at the 123 Block Mandala Park in Mandaluyong.
\nILYSM\u2026 A Valentine Harana Concert
\nFeb. 13
This multi-act concert at the Smart Araneta Coliseum features Arthur Nery, Adie, Rob Deniel, MRLD, Janine Tenoso,\u00a0 and Rhodessa, with special guest, Alamat.
\nJulia Fordham\u2019s A Valentine Concert
\nFeb. 16
For the season of love, Julia Fordham will be holding a concert on Feb. 16 with \u201cAsia\u2019s Romantic Balladeer\u201d Christian Bautista as guest. A Valentine Concert will be held at The Theater at Solaire in Para\u00f1aque.
\nSungha Jung
\nFeb. 16
Korean acoustic singer and guitar player Sungha Jung will return to the country to serenade Filipino audiences on Feb. 16 at the SM Skydome, SM City North EDSA in Quezon City. The show is organized by KBeam Events.
\nRivermaya\u2019s The Reunion
\nFeb. 17
Filipino alt-rock band Rivermaya is digging deep into their three-decade-long career and bringing back the original lineup to play their biggest hits. Bamboo Ma\u00f1alac, Rico Blanco, Nathan Azarcon, and Mark Escueta will take the stage and perform together for the first time since the late 1990s at the SMDC Festival Grounds in Para\u00f1aque.
\nJonas Brothers\u2019 Five Albums. One Night.
\nFeb. 22
Those who grew up as Disney kids will be thrilled to relive those memories at the Jonas Brothers\u2019 Manila concert on Feb. 22 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Para\u00f1aque. Ovation Productions is bringing the Five Albums. One Night world tour to Manila.
\nBobapalooza Music and Arts Festival
\nFeb. 24 – 25
The second edition of the Bobapalooza Music and Arts Festival will be bigger than the inaugural edition last year according to its organizers. International headliners Pale Waves and The Band Camino are coming to play while the local lineup boasts heavy hitters like Juan Karlos, Itchyworms, Urbandub, Sandwich, Chicosci, Syd Hartha, Rico Blanco, and more. It will take place at the Filinvest City Events Grounds in Muntinlupa City.
\nEric Moo
\nMarch 1
To start off March, the Malaysian-Chinese singer Eric Moo will bring his Mandopop ballads live to the Newport Performing Arts Theater in Pasay City.
\nJeff Satur\u2019s Space Shuttle No. 8
\nMarch 2
The Manila leg of Thai singer-actor Jeff Satur\u2019s Space Shuttle No. 8 Asia Tour will be held at the New Frontier Theater in Quezon City, care of Live Nation PH.
\nEd Sheeran\u2019s +-=\u00f7\u00d7
\nMarch 9
Irish pop sensation Ed Sheeran will be bringing his +-=\u00f7\u00d7 tour (pronounced Mathematics tour) to Manila. He will be playing at the SMDC Festival Grounds in Para\u00f1aque with special guest Calum Scott.
\nWanderland Music and Arts Festival
\nMarch 9 – 10
For its 10th edition, Wanderland will be returning to the Filinvest City Events Grounds in Alabang. Beach rock singer Jack Johnson will headline day one, leading performers like Novo Amor, Parcels, Ena Mori, Paolo Sandejas, Jeff Bernat, Beenzino, and more. The day two lineup has yet to be announced.
\nwave to earth\u2019s The First Era
\nMarch 11 and 13
Korean indie band wave to earth is returning to Manila in March. As part of their The First Era tour, they will have a two-day concert on March 11 and 13 at the New Frontier Theater in Quezon City. The act added the second show after tickets for the March 11 concert quickly sold out.
\nSlash\u2019s The River Is Rising
\nMarch 12
Slash of Guns N\u2019 Roses will once again visit Manila, this time with Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators, a group made up of Alter Bridge guitarist Myles Kennedy, Todd Kerns, Brent Fitz, and Frank Sidoris. The guitar-heavy rock concert will be held at the New Frontier Theater in Quezon City.
\nRod Stewart\u2019s One Last Time
\nMarch 13
Rod Stewart, one of the bestselling pop-rock performers of all time, will be back in the Philippines to perform many of his beloved hits. His one-night only show will be in March at the Mall of Asia Arena in Para\u00f1aque.
\nJanet Jackson\u2019s Together Again World Tour
\nMarch 13
Pop-R&B superstar Janet Jackson will be back in Manila for the first time in over a decade. She is bringing her Together Again world tour to the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City.
\nMalasimbo Music and Arts Festival
\nMarch 15 – 17
The Malasimbo Music and Arts Festival will again be held in Puerto Galera, Mindoro, marking the festival\u2019s comeback since it was last held in 2020. It will feature Ichika Nito, Dilaw, the Blue Rats, and other performers.
\nPULP SUMMER SLAM XX: Worlds Collide
\nMarch 23
The first Pulp Summer Slam since the COVID-19 pandemic hit will feature foreign metal bands Parkway Drive, Story of the Year, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Rolling Quartz, Prompts, and more. It will take place at the Amoranto Stadium in Quezon City.
\nJames Taylor
\nApril 8
Singer-songwriter James Taylor is bringing his timeless classics to fans in Manila for the first time in almost three decades. His show is set to take place at the Mall of Asia Arena in Para\u00f1aque.
\nBoys Like Girls
\nApril 20
American rock band Boys Like Girls is bringing their Spring concert tour to the Philippines with a one-night show at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
\nIncubus
\nApril 25
The distinct 1990s and early 2000s sound of the American rock band Incubus will again be held live in the Philippines in April. Brandon Boyd and the rest of the band last performed in the country in 2018. This time the Manila leg of their Asia tour will be at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
\nNiall Horan\u2019s The Show
\nMay 13
Irish soloist of One Direction fame Niall Horan will be in the country in May for his The Show world tour. Organized by Live Nation PH, his Mall of Asia Arena concert is taking place on May 13.
\nIVE\u2019s Show What I Have
\nJuly 13
Starship Entertainment\u2019s leading girl group IVE is returning to Manila for their first world tour, Show What I Have. The show, care of Live Nation PH, will be held at the Mall of Asia Arena on July 13. \u2014 Bront\u00eb H. Lacsamana
\n", "content_text": "1 of 4\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n \nA STAR-STUDDED lineup awaits music lovers as both local and international acts are gearing up to perform on stage throughout the year. Whether it\u2019s pop favorites, balladeers, rock bands, rap trailblazers, or indie darlings, there will be something for everyone up ahead.\nHere is a rundown of live music this year \u2014 so far.\nYesung\u2019s Unfading Sense\nJan. 6\nThe Korean singer and member of veteran K-pop group Super Junior, Yesung will stage his solo show, Unfading Sense, following the release of his solo album of the same name in October 2023. He will be performing at the New Frontier Theater in Cubao, Quezon City.\nCircus Music Festival 3\nJan. 6 – 7\nOver at the Circuit Makati Events Grounds, the third part in the Circus Music Festival series kicks off on Jan. 6 and 7. It has Ely Buendia headlining on the first day, along with acts like Juan Karlos, Silent Sanctuary, Armi Millare, Mayonnaise, 6Cyclemind, and many more. On the second day, the headliners are Parokya ni Edgar and Kamikazee, with musicians like Zack Tabudlo, Al James, Unique Salonga, Sponge Cola, and more keeping the ball rolling.\nSeventeen\u2019s FOLLOW\nJan. 13 – 14\nK-pop boy group Seventeen is returning to the country for a two-night concert this January at the Philippine Sports Stadium at Ciudad de Victoria in Bocaue, Bulacan, as part of their FOLLOW concert tour. However, members Jeonghan and S. COUPS will be absent due to \u201crehabilitation treatment and recovery\u201d from injuries.\nMark Tuan\u2019s The Other Side\nJan. 14\nRapper and GOT7 member Mark Tuan will be performing at the SM North EDSA Skydome on Jan. 14 for the Asian leg of his The Other Side tour. His show is organized by concert promoter PULP Live World.\nNyoy Volante and Klarisee de Guzman\nJan. 19\nStar Magic Music Room presents Nyoy Volante, considered by some to be the \u201cKing of Philippine Acoustic Pop,\u201d and Soul singer Klarisse de Guzman collaborating for a show this January. It will take place at the Vue Bar of the Bellevue Manila Hotel in Muntinlupa.\nColdplay\u2019s Music of the Spheres\nJan. 19 – 20\nBritish rock band Coldplay\u2019s Music of the Spheres world tour will be making a stop in the Philippines \u2014 their second-ever visit \u2014 this time performing at the Philippine Arena at Ciudad de Victoria in Bocaue, Bulacan, for two nights. OPM singer Jikamarie will be the opening act for both nights.\nNCT 127\u2019s The Unity\nJan. 21\nK-pop group NCT 127 will be flying in this month for their third tour, The Unity. The nine-member boy group will be performing at Bulacan\u2019s Philippines Sports Stadium, brought to the country by PULP Live World.\nMelanie Martinez\u2019s PORTALS\nJan. 23\nAlternative-pop singer-songwriter Melanie Martinez will stage a show at the World Trade Center in Pasay City. Her tour, Portals, is named after her newest album which she is promoting. It will be a standing-room only concert.\nThe Rose\u2019s Dawn to Dusk\nJan. 26\nSouth Korean indie-rock band The Rose is returning to the Philippines a year after their first visit, this time taking the stage of Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City. In addition to concert tickets, they are allowing meet-and-greets, soundcheck access, Q&A sessions, and exclusive merchandise for VIP packages.\nThe Jets\nJan. 26 and 27\nThe Jets, the American 1980s family pop band, known for hits like \u201cCrush on You,\u201d \u201cYou Got It All,\u201d and many more, is returning to the country for a two-night concert. They will be performing at the Newport Performing Arts Theater at Newport City in Pasay City.\nBrent Faiyaz\u2019s It\u2019s A Wasteland\nJan. 28\nLive Nation PH is bringing R&B singer-songwriter Brent Faiyaz to the Philippines for a one-night performance at the New Frontier Theater in Cubao, Quezon City. It will be the Manila stop of his It\u2019s A Wasteland tour.\nENHYPEN\u2019s Fate\nFeb. 3\nThe seven-piece K-pop boy group ENHYPEN will be back in the country over a year after their first visit. On Feb. 3, they will make history as the first act to individually headline a show at the New Clark City Stadium in Tarlac which is part of their Fate tour in Asia.\nMr. Streisand\nFeb. 10\nSome of the country\u2019s best singers \u2014 Michael de Mesa, Arman Ferrer, Audie Gemora, Franco Laurel, Jett Pangan, and Michael Williams \u2014 will perform in a concert featuring a repertoire of Barbra Streisand songs. With stage direction by Mark Bautista and music direction by Rony Fortich, the concert will be held at the Music Museum at the Greenhills Shopping Center in San Juan.\nSCRUBB\nFeb. 10\nThai duo Scrubb, composed of Thawatpon Wongboonsiri and Torpong Chantabubpha, will be in the Philippines in February. Their concert will take place at the 123 Block Mandala Park in Mandaluyong.\nILYSM\u2026 A Valentine Harana Concert\nFeb. 13\nThis multi-act concert at the Smart Araneta Coliseum features Arthur Nery, Adie, Rob Deniel, MRLD, Janine Tenoso,\u00a0 and Rhodessa, with special guest, Alamat.\nJulia Fordham\u2019s A Valentine Concert\nFeb. 16\nFor the season of love, Julia Fordham will be holding a concert on Feb. 16 with \u201cAsia\u2019s Romantic Balladeer\u201d Christian Bautista as guest. A Valentine Concert will be held at The Theater at Solaire in Para\u00f1aque.\nSungha Jung\nFeb. 16\nKorean acoustic singer and guitar player Sungha Jung will return to the country to serenade Filipino audiences on Feb. 16 at the SM Skydome, SM City North EDSA in Quezon City. The show is organized by KBeam Events.\nRivermaya\u2019s The Reunion\nFeb. 17\nFilipino alt-rock band Rivermaya is digging deep into their three-decade-long career and bringing back the original lineup to play their biggest hits. Bamboo Ma\u00f1alac, Rico Blanco, Nathan Azarcon, and Mark Escueta will take the stage and perform together for the first time since the late 1990s at the SMDC Festival Grounds in Para\u00f1aque.\nJonas Brothers\u2019 Five Albums. One Night.\nFeb. 22\nThose who grew up as Disney kids will be thrilled to relive those memories at the Jonas Brothers\u2019 Manila concert on Feb. 22 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Para\u00f1aque. Ovation Productions is bringing the Five Albums. One Night world tour to Manila.\nBobapalooza Music and Arts Festival\nFeb. 24 – 25\nThe second edition of the Bobapalooza Music and Arts Festival will be bigger than the inaugural edition last year according to its organizers. International headliners Pale Waves and The Band Camino are coming to play while the local lineup boasts heavy hitters like Juan Karlos, Itchyworms, Urbandub, Sandwich, Chicosci, Syd Hartha, Rico Blanco, and more. It will take place at the Filinvest City Events Grounds in Muntinlupa City.\nEric Moo\nMarch 1\nTo start off March, the Malaysian-Chinese singer Eric Moo will bring his Mandopop ballads live to the Newport Performing Arts Theater in Pasay City.\nJeff Satur\u2019s Space Shuttle No. 8\nMarch 2\nThe Manila leg of Thai singer-actor Jeff Satur\u2019s Space Shuttle No. 8 Asia Tour will be held at the New Frontier Theater in Quezon City, care of Live Nation PH.\nEd Sheeran\u2019s +-=\u00f7\u00d7\nMarch 9\nIrish pop sensation Ed Sheeran will be bringing his +-=\u00f7\u00d7 tour (pronounced Mathematics tour) to Manila. He will be playing at the SMDC Festival Grounds in Para\u00f1aque with special guest Calum Scott.\nWanderland Music and Arts Festival\nMarch 9 – 10\nFor its 10th edition, Wanderland will be returning to the Filinvest City Events Grounds in Alabang. Beach rock singer Jack Johnson will headline day one, leading performers like Novo Amor, Parcels, Ena Mori, Paolo Sandejas, Jeff Bernat, Beenzino, and more. The day two lineup has yet to be announced.\nwave to earth\u2019s The First Era\nMarch 11 and 13\nKorean indie band wave to earth is returning to Manila in March. As part of their The First Era tour, they will have a two-day concert on March 11 and 13 at the New Frontier Theater in Quezon City. The act added the second show after tickets for the March 11 concert quickly sold out.\nSlash\u2019s The River Is Rising\nMarch 12\nSlash of Guns N\u2019 Roses will once again visit Manila, this time with Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators, a group made up of Alter Bridge guitarist Myles Kennedy, Todd Kerns, Brent Fitz, and Frank Sidoris. The guitar-heavy rock concert will be held at the New Frontier Theater in Quezon City.\nRod Stewart\u2019s One Last Time\nMarch 13\nRod Stewart, one of the bestselling pop-rock performers of all time, will be back in the Philippines to perform many of his beloved hits. His one-night only show will be in March at the Mall of Asia Arena in Para\u00f1aque.\nJanet Jackson\u2019s Together Again World Tour\nMarch 13\nPop-R&B superstar Janet Jackson will be back in Manila for the first time in over a decade. She is bringing her Together Again world tour to the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City.\nMalasimbo Music and Arts Festival\nMarch 15 – 17\nThe Malasimbo Music and Arts Festival will again be held in Puerto Galera, Mindoro, marking the festival\u2019s comeback since it was last held in 2020. It will feature Ichika Nito, Dilaw, the Blue Rats, and other performers.\nPULP SUMMER SLAM XX: Worlds Collide\nMarch 23\nThe first Pulp Summer Slam since the COVID-19 pandemic hit will feature foreign metal bands Parkway Drive, Story of the Year, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Rolling Quartz, Prompts, and more. It will take place at the Amoranto Stadium in Quezon City.\nJames Taylor\nApril 8\nSinger-songwriter James Taylor is bringing his timeless classics to fans in Manila for the first time in almost three decades. His show is set to take place at the Mall of Asia Arena in Para\u00f1aque.\nBoys Like Girls\nApril 20\nAmerican rock band Boys Like Girls is bringing their Spring concert tour to the Philippines with a one-night show at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.\nIncubus\nApril 25\nThe distinct 1990s and early 2000s sound of the American rock band Incubus will again be held live in the Philippines in April. Brandon Boyd and the rest of the band last performed in the country in 2018. This time the Manila leg of their Asia tour will be at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.\nNiall Horan\u2019s The Show\nMay 13\nIrish soloist of One Direction fame Niall Horan will be in the country in May for his The Show world tour. Organized by Live Nation PH, his Mall of Asia Arena concert is taking place on May 13.\nIVE\u2019s Show What I Have\nJuly 13\nStarship Entertainment\u2019s leading girl group IVE is returning to Manila for their first world tour, Show What I Have. The show, care of Live Nation PH, will be held at the Mall of Asia Arena on July 13. \u2014 Bront\u00eb H. Lacsamana", "date_published": "2024-01-05T00:06:53+08:00", "date_modified": "2024-01-04T18:02:05+08:00", "authors": [ { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/cedadiantityclea/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/eda8ffc51ac7ec8b231b61b4c6a0d14e?s=512&d=mm&r=g" } ], "author": { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/cedadiantityclea/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/eda8ffc51ac7ec8b231b61b4c6a0d14e?s=512&d=mm&r=g" }, "image": "https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/The-Rose-Thumb.jpg", "tags": [ "Adie", "Arthur Nery", "Bobapalooza", "Boys Like Girls", "Brent Faiyaz", "Bront\u00eb H. Lacsamana", "Circus Music Festival", "Coldplay", "Ed Sheeran", "ENHYPEN", "Eric Moo", "Incubus", "IVE", "James Taylor", "Janet Jackson", "Janine Tenoso", "Jeff Satur", "Jonas Brothers", "Julia Fordham", "Klarisee de Guzman", "Malasimbo Music and Arts Festival", "Mark Tuan", "Melanie Martinez", "MRLD", "NCT 127", "Niall Horan", "nyoy volante", "Pulp Summer Slam", "Rivermaya", "Rob Deniel", "Rod Stewart", "Scrubb", "seventeen", "Sungha Jung", "The Jets", "The Rose", "Wanderland", "Yesung", "Arts & Leisure", "Editors' Picks" ] }, { "id": "https://www.bworldonline.com/?p=566858", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/arts-and-leisure/2024/01/05/566858/list-of-2023/", "title": "List of 2023", "content_html": "NOT everything I\u2019d seen for the year but everything that I think deserves to be noted, for good or bad. More mainstream than I\u2019d like but \u2014 life happens. I do try to note films available but not newly released in 2023, and why I thought them worth talking about.
\n![\"\"](\"https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/The-Boy-and-the-Heron-2023-IMDB.com_-300x169.jpg\")
The Boy and the Heron \u2014 perhaps Miyazaki\u2019s final film, done with economy and passion and a surfeit of fabulous imagery.
\n![\"\"](\"https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Leonardo-DiCaprio-and-Lily-Gladstone-in-Killers-of-the-Flower-Moon--300x169.jpg\")
Killers of the Flower Moon \u2014 Less a depiction of the Native American victims (which I suspect Scorsese couldn\u2019t presume to speak up for) than a blackly comic takedown of the thugs that preyed on them. At its emotional heart: the strange strangely moving Judas-Jesus relationship between Ernest Burkhart (a deftly dimwitted Leonardo DiCaprio) and his Osage wife Mollie (an understated Lily Gladstone).
\n![\"\"](\"https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Essential-Truths-of-the-Lake-2023-300x169.jpg\")
Essential Truths of the Lake \u2014 Lav Diaz\u2019s first-ever prequel follows the early adventures of Hermes Papauran, the \u201cPhilippines\u2019 greatest investigator\u201d \u2014 basically a detective with a philosophical bent and a gift for guilt-wracked obsessive brooding. He never lets go and neither does Diaz, in this latest meditation on the Marcos dictatorship.
\n![\"\"](\"https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/May-December--300x169.jpg\")
May December \u2014 Todd Haynes\u2019 unsettling look at tabloid narratives (in this case the Mary Kay Letourneau story) and the secrets they may or may not contain.
\n![\"\"](\"https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Asteroid-City-300x169.jpg\")
Asteroid City \u2014 Wes Anderson doesn\u2019t indulge in the usual film bro cliches \u2014 guns and assassins and fast cars \u2014 but takes off in a trajectory all his own. The immersion in 1950s Space Age paraphernalia makes this a perfect double feature with Richard Linklater\u2019s Apollo 10 \u00bd
\n![\"\"](\"https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Infinity-Pool-300x169.jpg\")
Infinity Pool \u2014 Brandon Cronenberg eschews his father\u2019s clean pornographic style to do a more baroque version of John Frankenheimer\u2019s Seconds, the true source of horror less the fleshy onscreen mutilations and more Mia Goth\u2019s mesmerizing hold over Alexander Skarsgard.
\n![\"\"](\"https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Past-Lives--300x169.jpg\")
Past Lives \u2014 Celine Song\u2019s debut feature is quiet but graceful; the finale, an extended tracking shot along an East Village sidewalk, is unexpectedly potent.
\n![\"\"](\"https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/The-Holdovers-300x169.jpg\")
The Holdovers \u2014 Alexander Payne and Paul Giamatti\u2019s latest isn\u2019t visually distinctive but does evoke lowkey emotional magic, and delivers the occasional sting.
\n![\"\"](\"https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/The-Killer--300x169.jpg\")
The Killer \u2014 David Fincher at his more elliptical, more a sterile exercise of style and stylish performances than anything. Not quite Jean-Pierre Melville, master of the genre, but not bad either.
\n![\"\"](\"https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Silent-Night--300x169.jpg\")
Silent Night \u2014 Man loses his son and his voice, takes a year to prepare for payback. Grimmer less stylish John Woo that nevertheless retains his spark.
\n![\"\"](\"https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Anatomy-of-a-Fall--300x169.jpg\")
Anatomy of a Fall \u2014 Justine Triet\u2019s legal drama with the help of Sandra Huller slowly carefully compellingly assembles the portrait of a marriage that has slid sideways, throws enough uncertainty into the process that like a juror you\u2019re not sure what verdict to deliver.
\n![\"\"](\"https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Guardians-of-the-Galaxy-Vol.-3-300x169.jpg\")
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 \u2014 James Gunn\u2019s darkest entry of the franchise, yet still manages to be laugh out loud funny. Gunn has a gift for depicting damaged characters, makes good use of that skill here.
\n![\"\"](\"https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Godzilla-Minus-One--300x169.jpg\")
Godzilla Minus One \u2014 Back and badder than ever, only the humans swarming at its feet are depicted with more care than usual. Arguably the best since Hideaki Anno\u2019s majestic 2016 incarnation, Gareth Edwards\u2019s coyer 2014 version, and the still unmatched 1954 original. Not a fan, alas, of the have-your-cake-and-eat-it ending.
\n![\"\"](\"https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/The-Exorcist-Believer--300x169.jpg\")
The Exorcist Believer \u2014 David Gordon Green doing to The Exorcist what he did to Halloween, picking up a well-loved horror classic and subverting its assumptions. If you\u2019re not a fan of the William Friedkin original (which I\u2019m not) this is for you. Easily the best of the franchise since Exorcist 2: The Heretic.
\n![\"\"](\"https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/The-Creator--300x169.jpg\")
The Creator \u2014 Derivative (of Neon Genesis Evangelion, Blade Runner, and Platoon) and illogical (Why develop a floating weapons platform so vast anyone can take a potshot? And why build a counter weapon that has to grow gradually into full power?) but the core narrative \u2014 of a haunted man\u2019s developing affection for a foundling child \u2014 is effective.
\n![\"\"](\"https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Meg-2-The-Trench--300x169.jpg\")
Meg 2: The Trench \u2014 The first hour is trapped underwater and dimly lit; when the movie surfaces and hits land it morphs into goofy fun, a cross between Jurassic Park and Free Fire.
\n![\"\"](\"https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Napoleon-300x169.jpg\")
Napoleon \u2014 More sumptuous and expensive looking than elegant, the movie emphasizes Napoleon the lovestruck buffoon over the brilliant strategist and innovative statesman, which leads one to ask: couldn\u2019t they depict the strategist and leader and then demonstrate why he\u2019s still a buffoon? Not as passionate or endlessly creative as Abel Gance\u2019s prodigious classic.
\n![\"\"](\"https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Margot-Robbie-in-Barbie-2023-300x200.jpg\")
Barbie \u2014 The first 20 minutes is a witty parody of Barbie and her neon pink world; the remaining runtime is a satire on male entitlement and corporate mismanagement with the fangs pulled, a neat-as-any demonstration of The Golden Rule: he who makes the gold (in this case Mattel, who financed) makes the rules.
\n![\"\"](\"https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Cillian-Murphy-Oppenheimer-300x169.jpg\")
Oppenheimer \u2014 Historical testimony, biographical study, investigative noir; drop in a blender and hit \u201cpuree.\u201d Christopher Nolan is consistent \u2014 when it comes to the money shot (a leap across an abyss, a stage trick involving magic cabinets, the detonating of the first-ever nuclear fission device) he cuts away to a different angle. A mess, and not in a good way.
\n![\"\"](\"https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Harrison-Ford-in-Indiana-Jones-and-the-Dial-of-Destiny-2023-300x169.jpg\")
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny \u2014 Another I liked more for the what might have been than what is \u2014 if you liked Indy, this is a passable capstone; if you like crisp and inventive action sequences, you miss the Spielberg touch.
\n![\"\"](\"https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/The-Flash--300x169.jpg\")
The Flash \u2014 Better than expected, mostly for the melancholic presence of Michael Keaton and his air of What Might Have Been. Otherwise disposable.
\n![\"\"](\"https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Spider-Man-Across-the-Spider-Verse--300x169.jpg\")
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse \u2014 everyone talks about how revolutionary it is to digitally animate on 2s (12 drawings or \u201cframes\u201d per second) as opposed to the standard-issue 1s (24 frames per second) \u2014 in effect moving away from the smooth and photorealistic \u2014 and how difficult this is to do with computers when the Japanese (including Shinkai, warts and all) have been and still do this all the time, largely by hand and in far better films. Miles Morales is a groundbreaking character \u2014 at least on the comic book page \u2014 but his film incarnation feels too wholesome, like a Disney princess in drag (mind you I\u2019d welcome a Disney princess in drag, just lose the 2% lowfat wholesomeness).
\n![\"\"](\"https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Suzume--300x169.jpg\")
Suzume \u2014 Makoto Shinkai continues to ape Miyazaki\u2019s images, characters, and concepts, everything from Spirited Away (protagonist\u2019s beloved cursed into taking another form, if not pigs then a nursery chair) to Howl\u2019s Moving Castle (portals that open into different locations or the past), troweling rough edges smooth with a thick serving of sentimentality. Emotionally stunted work, fixated on fantasy encounters between boy and girl at the expense of all else.
\nFilms I\u2019ve found interesting:
\n
![\"\"](\"https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Dust-Devil--300x169.jpg\")
Dust Devil (1992) \u2014 Richard Stanley\u2019s hallucinatory film \u2014 about a serial killer demon, the woman he\u2019s fated to meet, and the Namibian police officer hunting him \u2014 seems less affected by supernatural forces than by heat haze and highway hypnosis. Fascinatingly unhinged.
\n![\"\"](\"https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Experiment-Perilous--300x169.jpg\")
Experiment Perilous (1944) \u2014 Jacques Tourneur\u2019s take on George Cukor\u2019s Gaslight is hobbled by a smaller budget and an ostensibly less-than-stellar cast but does feature Tourneur\u2019s inimitably insinuating visual style and a simmering pas de deux between George Brent and twinkle-eyed Paul Lukas.
\n![\"\"](\"https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/The-Suspect--300x169.jpg\")
The Suspect (1944) \u2014 Robert Siodmak\u2019s camera stalks Charles Laughton as he spirals into mayhem and murder in this sumptuously produced Edwardian noir.
\n![\"\"](\"https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/The-Furies--300x169.jpg\")
\u00a0The Furies (1950) \u2014 Walter Huston as a carnivorous King Lear and Barbara Stanwyck as his libidinous Cordelia dominate this larger-than-life psychodrama set against the backdrop of Anthony Mann\u2019s West \u2014 a landscape of vast plains and craggy heights that reflect the characters\u2019 emotional landscape.
Could not with much regret keep up with the always vital Filipino independent filmmaking scene \u2014 that\u2019s my fault \u2014 but thanks to a recent project on Filipino-Asian collaborations have been able to catch the following:
\n![\"\"](\"https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Ano-hata-o-ute-300x169.jpg\")
Dawn of Freedom (Ano Hata O Ute, 1944) \u2014 Yutaka Abe and Gerardo de Leon\u2019s handsomely produced propaganda film employs Manila like a gigantic studio set, yet details the tentative at times mistrustful relationship between Filipinos and their Japanese occupiers with surprising delicacy.
\n![\"\"](\"https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/SHINIUMA-Dead-Horse--300x200.jpg\")
Shiniuma (Dead Horse, 2016) \u2014 Brillante Mendoza\u2019s haiku depicting an undocumented Filipino worker\u2019s life in Hokkaido, his capture by immigrant officers, and his eventual Manila homecoming. With an indelible performance by Lou Veloso.
\n![\"\"](\"https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Gensan-Punch-300x169.jpg\")
Gensan Punch \u2014 Brillante Mendoza\u2019s biopic of \u201cNao\u201d Tsuchiyama depicts a one-legged boxing champion full of grit and spirit and a startling sweetness.
\n\u00a0A Hard Day \u2014 Law Fajardo\u2019s remake of the Kim Seong-hun original, about a corrupt cop trying to fix his fractured life, is a fascinating study on what can translate from Korean to Filipino setting, and what can\u2019t.
\n![\"\"](\"https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Kintsugi-.jpg\")
Kintsugi \u2014 Law Fajardo\u2019s romance between a Filipino immigrant worker and the daughter of his Japanese boss is both a showcase for the charms of Saga prefecture (and its renowned ceramicware) and a quietly poignant romance.
![\"\"](\"https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Invisible-.jpg\")
Imbisibol (Invisible) \u2014 Arguably Fajardo\u2019s best work, from a one-act play by Herlyn Alegre, an observant and ultimately devastating look at Filipino migrants, documented and undocumented, in bleak wintertime Japan.
\n", "content_text": "NOT everything I\u2019d seen for the year but everything that I think deserves to be noted, for good or bad. More mainstream than I\u2019d like but \u2014 life happens. I do try to note films available but not newly released in 2023, and why I thought them worth talking about.\nTHE BOY AND THE HERON \u2014IMDB.COM\nThe Boy and the Heron \u2014 perhaps Miyazaki\u2019s final film, done with economy and passion and a surfeit of fabulous imagery.\nLEONARDO DICAPRIO and Lily Gladstone in a scene from Killers of the Flower Moon. \u2014IMDB.COM\nKillers of the Flower Moon \u2014 Less a depiction of the Native American victims (which I suspect Scorsese couldn\u2019t presume to speak up for) than a blackly comic takedown of the thugs that preyed on them. At its emotional heart: the strange strangely moving Judas-Jesus relationship between Ernest Burkhart (a deftly dimwitted Leonardo DiCaprio) and his Osage wife Mollie (an understated Lily Gladstone).\n\nEssential Truths of the Lake \u2014 Lav Diaz\u2019s first-ever prequel follows the early adventures of Hermes Papauran, the \u201cPhilippines\u2019 greatest investigator\u201d \u2014 basically a detective with a philosophical bent and a gift for guilt-wracked obsessive brooding. He never lets go and neither does Diaz, in this latest meditation on the Marcos dictatorship.\n\nMay December \u2014 Todd Haynes\u2019 unsettling look at tabloid narratives (in this case the Mary Kay Letourneau story) and the secrets they may or may not contain.\n\nAsteroid City \u2014 Wes Anderson doesn\u2019t indulge in the usual film bro cliches \u2014 guns and assassins and fast cars \u2014 but takes off in a trajectory all his own. The immersion in 1950s Space Age paraphernalia makes this a perfect double feature with Richard Linklater\u2019s Apollo 10 \u00bd\n\nInfinity Pool \u2014 Brandon Cronenberg eschews his father\u2019s clean pornographic style to do a more baroque version of John Frankenheimer\u2019s Seconds, the true source of horror less the fleshy onscreen mutilations and more Mia Goth\u2019s mesmerizing hold over Alexander Skarsgard.\n\nPast Lives \u2014 Celine Song\u2019s debut feature is quiet but graceful; the finale, an extended tracking shot along an East Village sidewalk, is unexpectedly potent.\n\nThe Holdovers \u2014 Alexander Payne and Paul Giamatti\u2019s latest isn\u2019t visually distinctive but does evoke lowkey emotional magic, and delivers the occasional sting. \n\nThe Killer \u2014 David Fincher at his more elliptical, more a sterile exercise of style and stylish performances than anything. Not quite Jean-Pierre Melville, master of the genre, but not bad either.\n\nSilent Night \u2014 Man loses his son and his voice, takes a year to prepare for payback. Grimmer less stylish John Woo that nevertheless retains his spark.\n\nAnatomy of a Fall \u2014 Justine Triet\u2019s legal drama with the help of Sandra Huller slowly carefully compellingly assembles the portrait of a marriage that has slid sideways, throws enough uncertainty into the process that like a juror you\u2019re not sure what verdict to deliver.\n\nGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 \u2014 James Gunn\u2019s darkest entry of the franchise, yet still manages to be laugh out loud funny. Gunn has a gift for depicting damaged characters, makes good use of that skill here.\n\nGodzilla Minus One \u2014 Back and badder than ever, only the humans swarming at its feet are depicted with more care than usual. Arguably the best since Hideaki Anno\u2019s majestic 2016 incarnation, Gareth Edwards\u2019s coyer 2014 version, and the still unmatched 1954 original. Not a fan, alas, of the have-your-cake-and-eat-it ending.\n\nThe Exorcist Believer \u2014 David Gordon Green doing to The Exorcist what he did to Halloween, picking up a well-loved horror classic and subverting its assumptions. If you\u2019re not a fan of the William Friedkin original (which I\u2019m not) this is for you. Easily the best of the franchise since Exorcist 2: The Heretic.\n\nThe Creator \u2014 Derivative (of Neon Genesis Evangelion, Blade Runner, and Platoon) and illogical (Why develop a floating weapons platform so vast anyone can take a potshot? And why build a counter weapon that has to grow gradually into full power?) but the core narrative \u2014 of a haunted man\u2019s developing affection for a foundling child \u2014 is effective.\n\nMeg 2: The Trench \u2014 The first hour is trapped underwater and dimly lit; when the movie surfaces and hits land it morphs into goofy fun, a cross between Jurassic Park and Free Fire.\n\nNapoleon \u2014 More sumptuous and expensive looking than elegant, the movie emphasizes Napoleon the lovestruck buffoon over the brilliant strategist and innovative statesman, which leads one to ask: couldn\u2019t they depict the strategist and leader and then demonstrate why he\u2019s still a buffoon? Not as passionate or endlessly creative as Abel Gance\u2019s prodigious classic.\n\nBarbie \u2014 The first 20 minutes is a witty parody of Barbie and her neon pink world; the remaining runtime is a satire on male entitlement and corporate mismanagement with the fangs pulled, a neat-as-any demonstration of The Golden Rule: he who makes the gold (in this case Mattel, who financed) makes the rules.\nCILLIAN MURPHY in Oppenheimer\nOppenheimer \u2014 Historical testimony, biographical study, investigative noir; drop in a blender and hit \u201cpuree.\u201d Christopher Nolan is consistent \u2014 when it comes to the money shot (a leap across an abyss, a stage trick involving magic cabinets, the detonating of the first-ever nuclear fission device) he cuts away to a different angle. A mess, and not in a good way.\nHARRISON FORD in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny\nIndiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny \u2014 Another I liked more for the what might have been than what is \u2014 if you liked Indy, this is a passable capstone; if you like crisp and inventive action sequences, you miss the Spielberg touch.\n\nThe Flash \u2014 Better than expected, mostly for the melancholic presence of Michael Keaton and his air of What Might Have Been. Otherwise disposable.\n\nSpider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse \u2014 everyone talks about how revolutionary it is to digitally animate on 2s (12 drawings or \u201cframes\u201d per second) as opposed to the standard-issue 1s (24 frames per second) \u2014 in effect moving away from the smooth and photorealistic \u2014 and how difficult this is to do with computers when the Japanese (including Shinkai, warts and all) have been and still do this all the time, largely by hand and in far better films. Miles Morales is a groundbreaking character \u2014 at least on the comic book page \u2014 but his film incarnation feels too wholesome, like a Disney princess in drag (mind you I\u2019d welcome a Disney princess in drag, just lose the 2% lowfat wholesomeness).\n\nSuzume \u2014 Makoto Shinkai continues to ape Miyazaki\u2019s images, characters, and concepts, everything from Spirited Away (protagonist\u2019s beloved cursed into taking another form, if not pigs then a nursery chair) to Howl\u2019s Moving Castle (portals that open into different locations or the past), troweling rough edges smooth with a thick serving of sentimentality. Emotionally stunted work, fixated on fantasy encounters between boy and girl at the expense of all else.\nFilms I\u2019ve found interesting:\n\n\nDust Devil (1992) \u2014 Richard Stanley\u2019s hallucinatory film \u2014 about a serial killer demon, the woman he\u2019s fated to meet, and the Namibian police officer hunting him \u2014 seems less affected by supernatural forces than by heat haze and highway hypnosis. Fascinatingly unhinged.\n\nExperiment Perilous (1944) \u2014 Jacques Tourneur\u2019s take on George Cukor\u2019s Gaslight is hobbled by a smaller budget and an ostensibly less-than-stellar cast but does feature Tourneur\u2019s inimitably insinuating visual style and a simmering pas de deux between George Brent and twinkle-eyed Paul Lukas.\n\nThe Suspect (1944) \u2014 Robert Siodmak\u2019s camera stalks Charles Laughton as he spirals into mayhem and murder in this sumptuously produced Edwardian noir.\n\u00a0The Furies (1950) \u2014 Walter Huston as a carnivorous King Lear and Barbara Stanwyck as his libidinous Cordelia dominate this larger-than-life psychodrama set against the backdrop of Anthony Mann\u2019s West \u2014 a landscape of vast plains and craggy heights that reflect the characters\u2019 emotional landscape.\nCould not with much regret keep up with the always vital Filipino independent filmmaking scene \u2014 that\u2019s my fault \u2014 but thanks to a recent project on Filipino-Asian collaborations have been able to catch the following:\n\nDawn of Freedom (Ano Hata O Ute, 1944) \u2014 Yutaka Abe and Gerardo de Leon\u2019s handsomely produced propaganda film employs Manila like a gigantic studio set, yet details the tentative at times mistrustful relationship between Filipinos and their Japanese occupiers with surprising delicacy.\n\nShiniuma (Dead Horse, 2016) \u2014 Brillante Mendoza\u2019s haiku depicting an undocumented Filipino worker\u2019s life in Hokkaido, his capture by immigrant officers, and his eventual Manila homecoming. With an indelible performance by Lou Veloso.\n\nGensan Punch \u2014 Brillante Mendoza\u2019s biopic of \u201cNao\u201d Tsuchiyama depicts a one-legged boxing champion full of grit and spirit and a startling sweetness.\n\u00a0A Hard Day \u2014 Law Fajardo\u2019s remake of the Kim Seong-hun original, about a corrupt cop trying to fix his fractured life, is a fascinating study on what can translate from Korean to Filipino setting, and what can\u2019t.\nKintsugi \u2014 Law Fajardo\u2019s romance between a Filipino immigrant worker and the daughter of his Japanese boss is both a showcase for the charms of Saga prefecture (and its renowned ceramicware) and a quietly poignant romance.\n\nImbisibol (Invisible) \u2014 Arguably Fajardo\u2019s best work, from a one-act play by Herlyn Alegre, an observant and ultimately devastating look at Filipino migrants, documented and undocumented, in bleak wintertime Japan.", "date_published": "2024-01-05T00:05:25+08:00", "date_modified": "2024-01-04T18:42:28+08:00", "authors": [ { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/cedadiantityclea/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/eda8ffc51ac7ec8b231b61b4c6a0d14e?s=512&d=mm&r=g" } ], "author": { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/cedadiantityclea/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/eda8ffc51ac7ec8b231b61b4c6a0d14e?s=512&d=mm&r=g" }, "image": "https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Leonardo-DiCaprio-and-Lily-Gladstone-in-Killers-of-the-Flower-Moon-.jpg", "tags": [ "Anatomy of a Fall", "Asteroid City", "Barbie", "Critic After Dark", "Dust Devil", "Essential Truths of the Lake", "Godzilla Minus One", "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3", "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny", "Infinity Pool", "Killers of the Flower Moon", "May December", "Meg 2: The Trench", "Napoleon", "Noel Vera", "Oppenheimer", "Past Lives", "Silent Night", "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse", "Suzume", "The Boy and the Heron", "The Creator", "The Exorcist: Believer", "The Flash", "The Holdovers", "The Killer", "Arts & Leisure", "Editors' Picks" ] }, { "id": "https://www.bworldonline.com/?p=566866", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/arts-and-leisure/2024/01/05/566866/golden-globes-2024-embark-on-new-era-for-awards-show/", "title": "Golden Globes 2024 embark on new era for awards show", "content_html": "LOS ANGELES \u2014 The 81st Golden Globes, the kickoff to the Hollywood film and TV awards season, will take place on Sunday, Jan. 7, under new ownership, an expanded voting membership, and a new broadcast network and host after years of criticism for ethical lapses and lack of diversity.
\nWHERE TO WATCH THE SHOW
\nThe Golden Globes will be broadcast live from the Beverly Hilton starting at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT (0100 GMT on Monday) on CBS, a new network after years airing on NBC. The awards will also be streamed live on Paramount+ for subscribers who pay for the Showtime add-on. Other Paramount+ customers can stream the show the next day.
WHO IS THE HOST?
\nAmerican stand-up comedian Jo Koy will host the Globes, his first hosting role for a major awards show. Koy, who is of Filipino heritage, has had stand-up specials on Comedy Central and Netflix and recently took his act on the Funny Is Funny World Tour.
WHICH FILMS AND TV SHOWS LEAD NOMINATIONS?Pink-drenched movie phenomenon Barbie topped the list of nominees, outpacing the eight for historical drama Oppenheimer. But the two films \u2014 which featured in a summer box office clash dubbed \u201cBarbenheimer\u201d \u2014 will compete in different categories at the Globes. Barbie vies for best comedy or musical, while Oppenheimer competes for best drama.
\nIn television categories, media dynasty drama Succession led all series with nine nominations, followed by the restaurant comedy The Bear with five.
\nWHO IS FAVORED TO WIN?
\nOppenheimer, directed by Christopher Nolan, is heavily favored to win best film drama, according to experts on prediction website Gold Derby, edging out Killers of the Flower Moon, directed by Martin Scorsese.
Barbie, directed by Greta Gerwig, is also the clear frontrunner in best film comedy or musical, followed by gothic comedy Poor Things.
\nIn acting awards, Native American star Lily Gladstone is favored to win best drama actress for her role in Killers of the Flower Moon and Bradley Cooper is the frontrunner to win best film drama actor for his role as conductor Leonard Bernstein in Maestro, which he also directed.
\nEmma Stone is the favorite for best film comedy/musical actress for her role in Poor Things, while Paul Giamatti leads the field for best film comedy/musical actor for The Holdovers.
\nChristopher Nolan is heavily favored to win best director for Oppenheimer.
\nIn TV series, Succession is expected to win drama series as is The Bear in comedy series.
\nMORE DIVERSE SLATE OF NOMINEES
\nAfter criticism for a lack of diversity in past years, an expanded group of Globe voters nominated two female directors: Gerwig and Past Lives director Celine Song. Acting nominees included Gladstone in Killers of the Flower Moon, gay Black American Rustin actor Colman Domingo, and Black American lead Jeffrey Wright in American Fiction.
Fantasia Barrino and Danielle Brooks were nominated for their roles in The Color Purple, but the story of Black Americans living in the early 1900s was left out of the race for best movie musical or comedy.
\nThere are 27 first-time nominees.
\nNEW AWARDS CATEGORIES
\nThe Globes introduced two new categories this year: TV stand-up comedy performance and cinematic and box office achievement.
EXPANDED VOTING MEMBERSHIP
\nAfter a 2021 Los Angeles Times investigation revealed that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association lacked diversity and some members engaged in ethical lapses, voting membership this year has expanded to 300 journalists from 75 countries around the world and 60% racial and ethnic diversity.
WHO ARE THE NEW OWNERS?
\nIn June 2023, Eldridge Industries purchased the Golden Globe assets with Dick Clark Productions (DCP), which will continue to manage the awards telecast and focus on expanding the Globes\u2019 viewership around the world. DCP is co-owned by Eldridge and Penske Media. The Golden Globes are now a for-profit venture.
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association was shut down as a consequence. \u2014 Reuters
\n", "content_text": "LOS ANGELES \u2014 The 81st Golden Globes, the kickoff to the Hollywood film and TV awards season, will take place on Sunday, Jan. 7, under new ownership, an expanded voting membership, and a new broadcast network and host after years of criticism for ethical lapses and lack of diversity.\nWHERE TO WATCH THE SHOW\nThe Golden Globes will be broadcast live from the Beverly Hilton starting at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT (0100 GMT on Monday) on CBS, a new network after years airing on NBC. The awards will also be streamed live on Paramount+ for subscribers who pay for the Showtime add-on. Other Paramount+ customers can stream the show the next day.\nWHO IS THE HOST?\nAmerican stand-up comedian Jo Koy will host the Globes, his first hosting role for a major awards show. Koy, who is of Filipino heritage, has had stand-up specials on Comedy Central and Netflix and recently took his act on the Funny Is Funny World Tour.\nWHICH FILMS AND TV SHOWS LEAD NOMINATIONS?Pink-drenched movie phenomenon Barbie topped the list of nominees, outpacing the eight for historical drama Oppenheimer. But the two films \u2014 which featured in a summer box office clash dubbed \u201cBarbenheimer\u201d \u2014 will compete in different categories at the Globes. Barbie vies for best comedy or musical, while Oppenheimer competes for best drama.\nIn television categories, media dynasty drama Succession led all series with nine nominations, followed by the restaurant comedy The Bear with five.\nWHO IS FAVORED TO WIN?\nOppenheimer, directed by Christopher Nolan, is heavily favored to win best film drama, according to experts on prediction website Gold Derby, edging out Killers of the Flower Moon, directed by Martin Scorsese.\nBarbie, directed by Greta Gerwig, is also the clear frontrunner in best film comedy or musical, followed by gothic comedy Poor Things.\nIn acting awards, Native American star Lily Gladstone is favored to win best drama actress for her role in Killers of the Flower Moon and Bradley Cooper is the frontrunner to win best film drama actor for his role as conductor Leonard Bernstein in Maestro, which he also directed.\nEmma Stone is the favorite for best film comedy/musical actress for her role in Poor Things, while Paul Giamatti leads the field for best film comedy/musical actor for The Holdovers.\nChristopher Nolan is heavily favored to win best director for Oppenheimer.\nIn TV series, Succession is expected to win drama series as is The Bear in comedy series.\nMORE DIVERSE SLATE OF NOMINEES\nAfter criticism for a lack of diversity in past years, an expanded group of Globe voters nominated two female directors: Gerwig and Past Lives director Celine Song. Acting nominees included Gladstone in Killers of the Flower Moon, gay Black American Rustin actor Colman Domingo, and Black American lead Jeffrey Wright in American Fiction.\nFantasia Barrino and Danielle Brooks were nominated for their roles in The Color Purple, but the story of Black Americans living in the early 1900s was left out of the race for best movie musical or comedy.\nThere are 27 first-time nominees.\nNEW AWARDS CATEGORIES\nThe Globes introduced two new categories this year: TV stand-up comedy performance and cinematic and box office achievement.\nEXPANDED VOTING MEMBERSHIP\nAfter a 2021 Los Angeles Times investigation revealed that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association lacked diversity and some members engaged in ethical lapses, voting membership this year has expanded to 300 journalists from 75 countries around the world and 60% racial and ethnic diversity.\nWHO ARE THE NEW OWNERS?\nIn June 2023, Eldridge Industries purchased the Golden Globe assets with Dick Clark Productions (DCP), which will continue to manage the awards telecast and focus on expanding the Globes\u2019 viewership around the world. DCP is co-owned by Eldridge and Penske Media. The Golden Globes are now a for-profit venture.\nThe Hollywood Foreign Press Association was shut down as a consequence. \u2014 Reuters", "date_published": "2024-01-05T00:04:10+08:00", "date_modified": "2024-01-04T17:45:27+08:00", "authors": [ { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/zievelivminerth/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/b32fbfdef56dafe9033e030c6a656bfb?s=512&d=mm&r=g" } ], "author": { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/zievelivminerth/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/b32fbfdef56dafe9033e030c6a656bfb?s=512&d=mm&r=g" }, "image": "https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/gg-trophy.jpg", "tags": [ "Golden Globes", "Arts & Leisure", "Editors' Picks" ] }, { "id": "https://www.bworldonline.com/?p=566867", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/arts-and-leisure/2024/01/05/566867/13-year-old-becomes-first-player-to-beat-tetris/", "title": "13-year-old becomes first player to beat Tetris", "content_html": "LOS ANGELES \u2014 A 13-year-old American is the first person to ever beat Tetris, forcing the more than three-decade-old classic Nintendo video game into a \u201ckill screen.\u201d
\nWillis Gibson, who goes by the streamer name Blue Scuti, said \u201cPlease crash\u201d as he arranged the puzzle pieces cascading down the screen and moments later got his wish when the game froze, leading him to repeatedly exclaim \u201cOh my God!\u201d in a video uploaded to YouTube on Jan. 2.
\nMr. Gibson broke world records for the overall score, level achieved and total numbers of lines, according 404 Media.
\n\u201cThis is unbelievable,\u201d Vince Clemente, chief executive officer of Classic Tetris World Championship, told Reuters.
\n\u201cDevelopers didn\u2019t think anyone would ever make it that far and now the game has officially been beaten by a human being.\u201d
\nPreviously, only an artificial intelligence computer program had beaten Tetris, Mr. Clemente said.
\nMr. Willis employs a \u201crolling\u201d controller technique popularized in 2021 that allows a player to manipulate the directional pad, or D-pad, at least 20 times per second to move the blocks, far more than the previously popular \u201chyper tapping\u201d method, 404 Media said.
\nTetris, which was first released in 1984 and became a near-immediate worldwide sensation, challenges players to rotate and conjoin seven different falling block shapes.
\nCreated by Alexey Pajitnov at the Moscow Academy of Science during the height of the Cold War, and developed as a business by gaming entrepreneur Henk Rogers, Tetris has shown remarkable staying power, spanning generations.
\nIt is the bestselling video game of all time with 520 million copies sold, according to The Tetris Company. \u2014 Reuters
\n", "content_text": "LOS ANGELES \u2014 A 13-year-old American is the first person to ever beat Tetris, forcing the more than three-decade-old classic Nintendo video game into a \u201ckill screen.\u201d\nWillis Gibson, who goes by the streamer name Blue Scuti, said \u201cPlease crash\u201d as he arranged the puzzle pieces cascading down the screen and moments later got his wish when the game froze, leading him to repeatedly exclaim \u201cOh my God!\u201d in a video uploaded to YouTube on Jan. 2.\nMr. Gibson broke world records for the overall score, level achieved and total numbers of lines, according 404 Media.\n\u201cThis is unbelievable,\u201d Vince Clemente, chief executive officer of Classic Tetris World Championship, told Reuters.\n\u201cDevelopers didn\u2019t think anyone would ever make it that far and now the game has officially been beaten by a human being.\u201d\nPreviously, only an artificial intelligence computer program had beaten Tetris, Mr. Clemente said.\nMr. Willis employs a \u201crolling\u201d controller technique popularized in 2021 that allows a player to manipulate the directional pad, or D-pad, at least 20 times per second to move the blocks, far more than the previously popular \u201chyper tapping\u201d method, 404 Media said.\nTetris, which was first released in 1984 and became a near-immediate worldwide sensation, challenges players to rotate and conjoin seven different falling block shapes.\nCreated by Alexey Pajitnov at the Moscow Academy of Science during the height of the Cold War, and developed as a business by gaming entrepreneur Henk Rogers, Tetris has shown remarkable staying power, spanning generations.\nIt is the bestselling video game of all time with 520 million copies sold, according to The Tetris Company. \u2014 Reuters", "date_published": "2024-01-05T00:03:11+08:00", "date_modified": "2024-01-04T17:46:47+08:00", "authors": [ { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/zievelivminerth/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/b32fbfdef56dafe9033e030c6a656bfb?s=512&d=mm&r=g" } ], "author": { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/zievelivminerth/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/b32fbfdef56dafe9033e030c6a656bfb?s=512&d=mm&r=g" }, "image": "https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Tetris.jpg", "tags": [ "Tetris", "Willis Gibson", "Arts & Leisure" ] }, { "id": "https://www.bworldonline.com/?p=566868", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/arts-and-leisure/2024/01/05/566868/ai-elvis-to-make-virtual-reality-comeback-in-london-show/", "title": "AI Elvis to make virtual reality comeback in London show", "content_html": "LONDON \u2014 Elvis Presley fans who missed out on seeing their hero when he was alive will be able to catch a glimpse of the King of Rock \u2018n\u2019 Roll perform later this year, thanks to virtual reality.
\nElvis Evolution will use artificial intelligence (AI) and holographic projection, augmented reality and live theater to recreate events in Presley\u2019s life and music, said Layered Reality, the immersive entertainment company developing the show.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a joyous celebration of Elvis\u2019s life; the man, the music, and his cultural legacy,\u201d Layered Reality founder and chief executive Andrew McGuinness told Reuters.
\nVisitors will be taken on a journey from Tupelo, Mississippi, where Presley was born in 1935, to Memphis, Tennessee, home of Graceland, and Las Vegas.
\n\u201cThe crescendo of the experience is an AI performance by Elvis,\u201d he said.
\nLayered Reality struck a deal with Authentic Brands Group, owner of the Elvis Presley estate, to develop Elvis Evolution.
\nThe British company was given access to thousands of the star\u2019s personal photos and hours of home-videos to create the new performances using AI, Mr. McGuinness said.
\nGlobal interest in the singer, widely acclaimed as the bestselling solo music artist of all time with more than 500 million records sold, is undimmed 46 years after he died aged 42.
\nBaz Luhrmann\u2019s biography Elvis, released in 2022, created a new generation of fans, while Sofia Coppola\u2019s 2023 Priscilla explored his complex relationship with his wife.
\nMr. McGuinness said Elvis Evolution would appeal to both die-hard fans and those curious to discover more about the \u201cCan\u2019t Help Falling in Love\u201d singer.
\nAfter London, Elvis Evolution will travel to cities including Las Vegas, Tokyo, and Berlin, he added. \u2014 Reuters
\n", "content_text": "LONDON \u2014 Elvis Presley fans who missed out on seeing their hero when he was alive will be able to catch a glimpse of the King of Rock \u2018n\u2019 Roll perform later this year, thanks to virtual reality.\nElvis Evolution will use artificial intelligence (AI) and holographic projection, augmented reality and live theater to recreate events in Presley\u2019s life and music, said Layered Reality, the immersive entertainment company developing the show.\n\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a joyous celebration of Elvis\u2019s life; the man, the music, and his cultural legacy,\u201d Layered Reality founder and chief executive Andrew McGuinness told Reuters.\nVisitors will be taken on a journey from Tupelo, Mississippi, where Presley was born in 1935, to Memphis, Tennessee, home of Graceland, and Las Vegas.\n\u201cThe crescendo of the experience is an AI performance by Elvis,\u201d he said.\nLayered Reality struck a deal with Authentic Brands Group, owner of the Elvis Presley estate, to develop Elvis Evolution.\nThe British company was given access to thousands of the star\u2019s personal photos and hours of home-videos to create the new performances using AI, Mr. McGuinness said.\nGlobal interest in the singer, widely acclaimed as the bestselling solo music artist of all time with more than 500 million records sold, is undimmed 46 years after he died aged 42.\nBaz Luhrmann\u2019s biography Elvis, released in 2022, created a new generation of fans, while Sofia Coppola\u2019s 2023 Priscilla explored his complex relationship with his wife.\nMr. McGuinness said Elvis Evolution would appeal to both die-hard fans and those curious to discover more about the \u201cCan\u2019t Help Falling in Love\u201d singer.\nAfter London, Elvis Evolution will travel to cities including Las Vegas, Tokyo, and Berlin, he added. \u2014 Reuters", "date_published": "2024-01-05T00:02:12+08:00", "date_modified": "2024-01-04T17:48:29+08:00", "authors": [ { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/zievelivminerth/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/b32fbfdef56dafe9033e030c6a656bfb?s=512&d=mm&r=g" } ], "author": { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/zievelivminerth/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/b32fbfdef56dafe9033e030c6a656bfb?s=512&d=mm&r=g" }, "image": "https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/elvis-presley.jpg", "tags": [ "Artificial intelligence", "Elvis Evolution", "elvis presley", "Arts & Leisure" ] }, { "id": "https://www.bworldonline.com/?p=566869", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/arts-and-leisure/2024/01/05/566869/dan-levy-shows-more-solemn-side-in-netflix-film-good-grief/", "title": "Dan Levy shows more solemn side in Netflix film Good Grief", "content_html": "LOS ANGELES \u2014 Schitt\u2019s Creek creator and four-time Emmy winner Dan Levy is showing off a more serious side to himself as part of a multiyear film and TV deal with the streaming giant Netflix.
\nThe maiden production is the film Good Grief, which Mr. Levy wrote, directed, and stars in. It follows his character, Marc, whose life is turned upside down when his husband, Oliver, played by Luke Evans, dies suddenly in an accident.
\nMarc must reconstruct his life with the help of his two best friends, Thomas, played by Himesh Patel, and Sophie, portrayed by Ruth Negga.
\nThe movie, which starts streaming on Netflix on Jan. 5, is a drama which Mr. Levy hopes his fans will connect with even though it is outside the comedic work for which he is known.
\n\u201cI think it\u2019s very rare to be given an opportunity to do something so different from what people know you to do and that takes a leap of faith from, in this case, from Netflix to greenlight something that\u2019s so different,\u201d Mr. Levy said.
\nHe feels that actors often get type-cast and must stay in the genre people expect them to be, so he is grateful for the chance to do something personal to him.
\nAlthough lighthearted, the film shows how friendship can help through the process of mourning.
\n\u201cI think there\u2019s this fear … that sharing your fears or your sadness is a burden on your friendships, but I think that is the greatest act of love ultimately,\u201d Mr. Levy said.
\nTo create the friendship bond, he arranged for Patel, Negga, and himself to connect over several weeks before shooting, including doing an escape room together in London, which Mr. Levy said had \u201ceveryone\u2019s skill sets just put on display.\u201d
\nWhether it is comedy or drama, he wants people to see that his work resonates across genres.
\n\u201cI cared very deeply about Schitt\u2019s Creek and I think the common theme here is that both of these projects have a very large heartbeat to them, and I hope will mean something to people in very different ways,\u201d he said.
\nMr. Levy\u2019s multiyear deal with Netflix began in 2021. \u2014 Reuters
\n", "content_text": "LOS ANGELES \u2014 Schitt\u2019s Creek creator and four-time Emmy winner Dan Levy is showing off a more serious side to himself as part of a multiyear film and TV deal with the streaming giant Netflix.\nThe maiden production is the film Good Grief, which Mr. Levy wrote, directed, and stars in. It follows his character, Marc, whose life is turned upside down when his husband, Oliver, played by Luke Evans, dies suddenly in an accident.\nMarc must reconstruct his life with the help of his two best friends, Thomas, played by Himesh Patel, and Sophie, portrayed by Ruth Negga.\nThe movie, which starts streaming on Netflix on Jan. 5, is a drama which Mr. Levy hopes his fans will connect with even though it is outside the comedic work for which he is known.\n\u201cI think it\u2019s very rare to be given an opportunity to do something so different from what people know you to do and that takes a leap of faith from, in this case, from Netflix to greenlight something that\u2019s so different,\u201d Mr. Levy said.\nHe feels that actors often get type-cast and must stay in the genre people expect them to be, so he is grateful for the chance to do something personal to him.\nAlthough lighthearted, the film shows how friendship can help through the process of mourning.\n\u201cI think there\u2019s this fear … that sharing your fears or your sadness is a burden on your friendships, but I think that is the greatest act of love ultimately,\u201d Mr. Levy said.\nTo create the friendship bond, he arranged for Patel, Negga, and himself to connect over several weeks before shooting, including doing an escape room together in London, which Mr. Levy said had \u201ceveryone\u2019s skill sets just put on display.\u201d\nWhether it is comedy or drama, he wants people to see that his work resonates across genres.\n\u201cI cared very deeply about Schitt\u2019s Creek and I think the common theme here is that both of these projects have a very large heartbeat to them, and I hope will mean something to people in very different ways,\u201d he said.\nMr. Levy\u2019s multiyear deal with Netflix began in 2021. \u2014 Reuters", "date_published": "2024-01-05T00:01:14+08:00", "date_modified": "2024-01-04T17:49:57+08:00", "authors": [ { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/zievelivminerth/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/b32fbfdef56dafe9033e030c6a656bfb?s=512&d=mm&r=g" } ], "author": { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/zievelivminerth/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/b32fbfdef56dafe9033e030c6a656bfb?s=512&d=mm&r=g" }, "image": "https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Ruth-Negga-Himesh-Patel-and-Daniel-Levy-in-Good-Grief-2023-.jpg", "tags": [ "Dan Levy", "Good Grief", "Netflix", "Netflix Inc.", "Arts & Leisure" ] }, { "id": "https://www.bworldonline.com/?p=566681", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/arts-and-leisure/2024/01/04/566681/its-a-leftover-palooza/", "title": "It\u2019s a leftover-palooza!", "content_html": "\n![\"\"](\"https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Pork-Asado-by-Chef-Miguel-Lorino--150x150.jpg\")
\n![\"\"](\"https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Pork-Asado-by-Chef-Miguel-Lorino-8-150x150.jpg\")
\n![\"\"](\"https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Whipped-Fruit-Salad-by-Chef-Anne-Atanacio--150x150.jpg\")
\n\nWE\u2019RE sure a lot of us are playing a form of fridge Tetris (that is, rearranging our leftovers in the refrigerator to make them fit) after the end of 2023\u2019s holiday season. So BusinessWorld asked some experts for their suggestions on how to recycle the goodies that are clogging up the ref and freezer. As we welcome 2024, we\u2019re doing it without repeated servings of ham and lechon paksiw, and serving up \u201cscraps\u201d with style.
\nCCA MANILA
\nThe chef-instructors at the Center for Culinary Arts Manila (CCA Manila) were generous enough not only to share their favorite holiday recipes, but also to provide solutions for their inevitable leftovers. Chef Miguel Lorino gave us his recipe for pork asado (available on the BusinessWorld online version of this piece) and the chic mantou sandwiches that could come after.
Pork Asado
\nYield: 6 servings
\nIngredients:
\n60 ml vegetable oil
\n60 gm minced garlic
\n1 kg cubed pork shoulder
\n480 ml water
\n180 ml soy sauce
\n10 gm star anise
\n10 gm hydrated banana blossom
\n150 gm brown sugar
\nGround black pepper to taste
\nSalt to taste
Procedure:
\nBegin by heating oil in a large pot and saut\u00e9ing garlic until aromatic.
\nAdd pork, cooking until it turns a golden hue.
\nCombine water, soy sauce, star anise, banana blossom, and brown sugar with the pork and simmer until tender.
\nSeason with salt and pepper, and serve warm.
\nMantou Pork Asado with Pickled Cucumbers
\nYield: 6 servings
Ingredients:
\n60 ml vinegar
\n10 gm white sugar
\n10 gm grated ginger
\n5 gm crushed black peppercorns
\n100 gm thinly sliced cucumber
\n12 pcs steamed pandan mantou\u00a0
\nSliced pork asado (leftovers) as needed20 gm red onion
\n50 gm sliced tomatoes
Procedure:
\nBoil vinegar and sugar together.
Remove from heat and add ginger, peppercorns, and cucumbers to marinate.
\nFor assembly, stuff the mantou buns with pork asado, pickled cucumbers, onions, and tomatoes, then serve.
\nMeanwhile, chef Anne Atanacio gives us a post-holiday breakfast idea using the ubiquitous Christmas ham, and a solution for the lucky grapes left behind on the table after displaying them for luck.
\nHam and Chicken Spread Recipe
\nIngredients:
\n1 cup chopped Christmas ham
\n1 cup chopped roasted chicken
\n1 stalk of celery, chopped
\n1 bunch of grapes, chopped
\n1 cup gated leftover cheese
\n1 cup mayonnaise
\nSalt and pepper to taste
Procedure:
\nMix all ingredients in a bowl until well combined.
\nSpread generously on bread for a satisfying meal.
\nWhipped Fruit Salad
\nIngredients:
\n750 gm Drained fruit cocktail
\n2 cups Red grapes
\n2 packs All-purpose cream, chilled overnight
\n1 can Condensed milk
Procedure:
\nWhip the all-purpose cream until light and fluffy.
\nFold in the fruit cocktail, grapes, and condensed milk.
\nRefrigerate overnight for the best flavor.
\nONE WORLD DELI
\nOver at One World Deli, the new place to be to get food from all around the world, their chefs George Bustamante and Angela Villaroman offered up their recipes for leftover Turkey Stew and Roast Beef Sandwiches.
\nTurkey Stew
\nIngredients:
\nTurkey meat, cut into bite-sized pieces
\nTurkey bones
\n1 cup Carrots
\n1 cup Celery
\n1 cup Onions
\n2 tablespoons of flour
\n1/4 cup chopped parsley
\nLeftover vegetables
\n1/4 cup of cream
\nSalt and pepper to taste
Procedure:
\nDebone the turkey and cut the meat into bite-sized pieces.
\nPlace the bones in a stock pot and fill with water, let it simmer for 30-45 minutes.
\nSaut\u00e9 one cup carrots, one cup celery, and one cup onions in butter. Add two tablespoons of flour and, once cooked, add the turkey stock and let simmer for 10 minutes, continuously stirring.
\nAdd 1/4 cup of chopped parsley and any leftover cooked vegetables that you may have, and let simmer.
\nAdd turkey meat and 1/4 cup of cream. Add salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy with crusty bread or leftover mash.
\nRoast Beef Sandwiches
\nIngredients:
\n150 gm roast beef, thinly sliced
\nOne piece ciabatta
\n10 ml horseradish sauce
\n5 gm arugula
\n20 gm onions, thinly sliced
\n2 slices cheddar cheese
Procedure:
\nCut the bread, butter one side of each slide, toast on a griddle.
\nSpread the horseradish sauce on the buttered side, and assemble the sandwich. Arugula at the bottom, then generous layers of thinly sliced roast beef, cheese, and onions.
\nCITY OF DREAMS MANILA
\nOver at City of Dreams Manila, chef Edmundo San Jose from modern Filipino restaurant Haliya shared with us how to serve leftover lechon in a relatively healthy way. What\u2019s more, this Ensaladang Lechon (roast suckling pig salad) shares some similarities with one of Haliya\u2019s signature dishes, Binalot na Cochi.
Ensaladang Lechon
\nIngredients:
\nLeftover lechon or cochinillo
\nOptional: leftover pork adobo flakes
\nHomemade atchara (pickled papaya)
\nShallot
\nButterhead lettuce
\nJalape\u00f1o
\nCoriander
\nHomemade pork liver sauce
\nCherry tomatoes
\nGarlic aioli
\nPork liver salsa
Procedure:
\nShred the leftover lechon or cochinillo meat and set aside.
\nOptional: make adobo flakes from leftover adobo.
\nPrepare pork liver salsa by combining tomatoes, shallots, jalape\u00f1o, coriander, spring onion, and homemade pork liver sauce. Set aside.
\nAssembly / plating:
\nPrepare the butterhead lettuce.
\nTo make individual portions, place the leftover lechon or cochinillo on each butterhead lettuce leaf.
\nTop with jalape\u00f1o, atchara, garlic aioli, shallots, adobo flakes, and coriander.
\nPUREFOODS
\nFinally, from the source of a lot of the hams (and beer) on our tables, the San Miguel Corp. provided us with some recipes for what to do with all that leftover ham and cheese.
\nBoscaiola Frittata
\nIngredients:
\nTwo tbsp Magnolia Gold Butter
\nUnsaltedOne can (198 gm) button mushrooms, pieces and stems, drained
\nThree cloves garlic, mincedOne stalk
\n(5 gm) parsley, chopped (1 tbsp)
\n200 grams Purefoods Fiesta Ham, diced or cut into thin strips
\n1/4 tsp iodized fine salt
\n1/8 tsp pepper
\nSix Magnolia Brown Eggs, beaten
\n1/2 cup Magnolia Fresh Milk
\n1/2 cup grated Magnolia Queso de Bola
Procedure:
\nIn an eight-inch frying pan over medium heat, melt butter and saut\u00e9 mushrooms, garlic, parsley, and ham. Season with salt and pepper.
\nMeanwhile in a large bowl, combine eggs, milk, and cheese. Pour over the mushroom-ham mixture in the pan.
\nCover and cook over lower heat until set. Check doneness by sticking a toothpick in the middle. Toothpick should be clean and without egg mixture when taken out.
\nAdd some chopped vegetables to add color, nutrition, and to further extend dish. Serve with muffins, sliced bread or rice.
\nFiesta Ham Beer Stew
\nIngredients:
\nTwo tbsp Magnolia Butter-licious!
\nOne red onion, chopped
\nSix cloves (20 gm) garlic, chopped
\nOne (1 kg) package of Purefoods Fiesta Ham, sliced
\nOne pack (300 gm) marble potatoes, cut in half
\nOne bottle (330 ml) San Miguel Beer Pale Pilsen
\nOne cup beef stock
\n1/4 tsp iodized fine salt
\nTwo bay leaves
\nFive black peppercorns
\nOne (250 gm) carrot, cubed
\nOne (100 gm) green bell pepper, chopped
\nOne (100 gm) red bell pepper, chopped
Procedure:
\nIn a pot over medium heat, melt margarine and saut\u00e9 onion, garlic, and ham until lightly browned.
\nAdd marble potatoes, beer, stock, salt, bay leaves, and peppercorns. Cover and simmer for 8 minutes.
\nAdd carrot and simmer for 10 minutes or until tender. Add bell peppers and simmer for 1 minute.
\nNote:
\nThe base recipe is good also for leftover Purefoods Jamon Royale and Purefoods Chinese Ham. Adjust salt further for Chinese Ham. If a saucy dish is desired, thicken the dish with a cornstarch mixture (1:1). Stir in while mixture is simmering until the sauce thickens. \u2014 Joseph L. Garcia
IT\u2019S THE end of December, which means my inbox is flooded with pitches for mocktails, apps, and lifestyle gurus ready to help you sober up after the excess of the holidays. So-called \u201cDry January\u201d \u2014 initially intended as a public health campaign \u2014 is now as fully commercial as Christmas and New Year\u2019s Eve.
\nBut according to data from Morning Consult, fewer people in the US participated in Dry January in 2023. Older generations show the least interest. That\u2019s a shame, because the health benefits of consuming less alcohol couldn\u2019t be clearer.
\nMaybe one way to get more on board would be to extol moderation rather than abstinence. For some, a dry-as-the-desert January can feel daunting \u2014 maybe you don\u2019t want to forgo the celebratory glass of champagne for a birthday or anniversary, or skip the fancy cocktail at a restaurant you\u2019ve been waiting months to try. If you\u2019ll cave once or twice, why bother at all?
\nBut there are still health benefits to a \u201cdamp\u201d January, where drinkers pare back rather than abstain. Even a moderate month can offer one of the biggest benefits of Dry January: reflecting on one\u2019s relationship with alcohol.
\nThat means noticing why you have the impulse to grab a drink \u2014 for example, how often is it a response to stress? Does it feel daunting to mingle at a party without a glass of wine in your hand? Is one nightly drink turning into two or three?
\nWhether dry or damp, January can also be a chance to take inventory of how your body feels on less booze. If your sleep improves, your mind is clearer in the morning, or you don\u2019t find yourself reaching for the Advil or Tums as often, your body might be telling you to consider more than just a month of moderation.
\nThat\u2019s a message worth listening to, especially for women, who are catching up to men when it comes to alcohol use disorder \u2014 a trend that is especially worrisome when considering women are more vulnerable to the worst health effects of drinking.
\nBut even a damp January requires a plan, says George Koob, director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. \u201cYou can\u2019t wiffle waffle and get chaotic about it.\u201d
\nTo avoid wiffling and waffling, Mr. Koob shares a few principles of self-regulation: monitoring, strength, and standards. Set a goal for how often you plan to abstain (your standards), have the internal fortitude to stay the course (your strength), and keep track of your progress (monitoring).
\nMonitoring can be as simple as jotting down how many drinks you\u2019ve had on a sticky note or as involved as formally signing up through an app. If you\u2019re someone that thrives on closing all the rings on your Apple Watch or seeing a badge appear on Strava, an app might provide the right kind of motivation.
\nIn theory, these apps can also help with the \u201cstrength\u201d side of staying the course by offering reminders and tips like mocktail recipes or strategies for socializing without liquid courage. Try Dry, a free app from Alcohol Change UK, a charity that helped to popularize Dry January over a decade ago, will also tally up your weekly savings from forgoing booze.
\nOne thing to leave off your plan for a more sober month: THC. Companies making cannabis-infused drinks are eager to step in to fill the glasses left empty during Dry January. One firm, Cann, is going so far as to try to rebrand the month as \u201cCannuary,\u201d and in an e-mail pitch said transactions tripled in January and February of 2023 during its campaign to convert alcohol drinkers to marijuana users.
\nWhen I asked Mr. Koob if these companies were offering a reasonable substitute during Dry January, his answer was immediate and emphatic: No. \u201cIn a sense, you\u2019re self-medicating if you have to substitute one psychotropic substance for another,\u201d he says. And while cannabis companies like to argue that THC is much safer than other social lubricants, that doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s benign; rather, its effects on the body are much different (and less comprehensively studied) than alcohol.
\nAs Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health, told Bloomberg earlier this year, \u201cboth are associated with harms and both can lead to addiction.\u201d It would be a mistake to turn Dry January into High January.
\nThat\u2019s an especially important message for younger generations. Surveys show Gen Z and millennials are increasingly interested in taking a more moderate approach to alcohol, but are also clearly the target audience for these cannabis companies.
\nWhether your January is bone-dry or moderately damp, it\u2019s well worth the effort. If done right, the benefits of taking a break can linger well past the marketing schtick of a sober month. One study in the UK showed that people who took a January break continue to be more balanced in their drinking six months later. That\u2019s an outcome that can make a real difference in our health. \u2014Bloomberg Opinion
\n", "content_text": "IT\u2019S THE end of December, which means my inbox is flooded with pitches for mocktails, apps, and lifestyle gurus ready to help you sober up after the excess of the holidays. So-called \u201cDry January\u201d \u2014 initially intended as a public health campaign \u2014 is now as fully commercial as Christmas and New Year\u2019s Eve.\nBut according to data from Morning Consult, fewer people in the US participated in Dry January in 2023. Older generations show the least interest. That\u2019s a shame, because the health benefits of consuming less alcohol couldn\u2019t be clearer.\nMaybe one way to get more on board would be to extol moderation rather than abstinence. For some, a dry-as-the-desert January can feel daunting \u2014 maybe you don\u2019t want to forgo the celebratory glass of champagne for a birthday or anniversary, or skip the fancy cocktail at a restaurant you\u2019ve been waiting months to try. If you\u2019ll cave once or twice, why bother at all?\nBut there are still health benefits to a \u201cdamp\u201d January, where drinkers pare back rather than abstain. Even a moderate month can offer one of the biggest benefits of Dry January: reflecting on one\u2019s relationship with alcohol.\nThat means noticing why you have the impulse to grab a drink \u2014 for example, how often is it a response to stress? Does it feel daunting to mingle at a party without a glass of wine in your hand? Is one nightly drink turning into two or three?\nWhether dry or damp, January can also be a chance to take inventory of how your body feels on less booze. If your sleep improves, your mind is clearer in the morning, or you don\u2019t find yourself reaching for the Advil or Tums as often, your body might be telling you to consider more than just a month of moderation.\nThat\u2019s a message worth listening to, especially for women, who are catching up to men when it comes to alcohol use disorder \u2014 a trend that is especially worrisome when considering women are more vulnerable to the worst health effects of drinking.\nBut even a damp January requires a plan, says George Koob, director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. \u201cYou can\u2019t wiffle waffle and get chaotic about it.\u201d\nTo avoid wiffling and waffling, Mr. Koob shares a few principles of self-regulation: monitoring, strength, and standards. Set a goal for how often you plan to abstain (your standards), have the internal fortitude to stay the course (your strength), and keep track of your progress (monitoring).\nMonitoring can be as simple as jotting down how many drinks you\u2019ve had on a sticky note or as involved as formally signing up through an app. If you\u2019re someone that thrives on closing all the rings on your Apple Watch or seeing a badge appear on Strava, an app might provide the right kind of motivation.\nIn theory, these apps can also help with the \u201cstrength\u201d side of staying the course by offering reminders and tips like mocktail recipes or strategies for socializing without liquid courage. Try Dry, a free app from Alcohol Change UK, a charity that helped to popularize Dry January over a decade ago, will also tally up your weekly savings from forgoing booze. \nOne thing to leave off your plan for a more sober month: THC. Companies making cannabis-infused drinks are eager to step in to fill the glasses left empty during Dry January. One firm, Cann, is going so far as to try to rebrand the month as \u201cCannuary,\u201d and in an e-mail pitch said transactions tripled in January and February of 2023 during its campaign to convert alcohol drinkers to marijuana users.\nWhen I asked Mr. Koob if these companies were offering a reasonable substitute during Dry January, his answer was immediate and emphatic: No. \u201cIn a sense, you\u2019re self-medicating if you have to substitute one psychotropic substance for another,\u201d he says. And while cannabis companies like to argue that THC is much safer than other social lubricants, that doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s benign; rather, its effects on the body are much different (and less comprehensively studied) than alcohol.\nAs Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health, told Bloomberg earlier this year, \u201cboth are associated with harms and both can lead to addiction.\u201d It would be a mistake to turn Dry January into High January.\nThat\u2019s an especially important message for younger generations. Surveys show Gen Z and millennials are increasingly interested in taking a more moderate approach to alcohol, but are also clearly the target audience for these cannabis companies.\nWhether your January is bone-dry or moderately damp, it\u2019s well worth the effort. If done right, the benefits of taking a break can linger well past the marketing schtick of a sober month. One study in the UK showed that people who took a January break continue to be more balanced in their drinking six months later. That\u2019s an outcome that can make a real difference in our health. \u2014Bloomberg Opinion", "date_published": "2024-01-04T00:04:55+08:00", "date_modified": "2024-01-03T18:25:52+08:00", "authors": [ { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/cedadiantityclea/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/eda8ffc51ac7ec8b231b61b4c6a0d14e?s=512&d=mm&r=g" } ], "author": { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/cedadiantityclea/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/eda8ffc51ac7ec8b231b61b4c6a0d14e?s=512&d=mm&r=g" }, "image": "https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/champagne.jpg", "tags": [ "Bloomberg Opinion", "Dry January", "Lisa Jarvis", "Arts & Leisure", "Bloomberg", "Editors' Picks" ] }, { "id": "https://www.bworldonline.com/?p=566689", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/arts-and-leisure/2024/01/04/566689/dining-in-out-01-04-24/", "title": "Dining In/Out (01/04/24)", "content_html": "\r\n \r\n\r\nTHE PENINSULA Manila brings the holiday season to a close with the Celebration of the Feast of the Three Kings on Jan. 6, Saturday. From 11 am to noon, the Three Kings will visit The Peninsula Manila, bringing with them presents for children. There will be special celebrations starting with a parade around the hotel bringing the Three Kings from the East \u2014 Melchor, Gaspar and Balthazar \u2014 to The Lobby before proceeding to Escolta restaurant where a buffet lunch awaits guests. The Three Kings lunch buffet price is P3,000 and available from noon to 2:30 p.m. The Feast of the Three Kings is also a time for indulging one\u2019s sweet tooth. Visit The Peninsula Boutique for a taste of Roscon de Reyes (P990), a traditional Spanish brioche-like sweet bread that represents the three kings\u2019 crowns that\u2019s eaten on the Feast of the Three Kings which celebrates Epiphany when the Three Kings came to visit the baby Jesus in Bethlehem. For inquiries or further information call 887-2888, extensions 6691 and 6694 (Restaurant Reservations), e-mail diningpmn@peninsula.com or visit peninsula.com.
\nNOW available is The Starbucks\u2019 Winter selection, featuring a variety of new drinks. January also sees new dishes and new merchandise that fit the post-holiday season. The new Starbucks Winter Beverages are: Honey Plum Pure Matcha Latte, topped with plum cold foam and sweet plum sprinkles (available in hot, iced); Vienna Creamy Latte, Starbucks espresso infused with vanilla mascarpone cheese with vanilla seeds, topped with mocha sauce, a creamy mascarpone cheese foam and sprinkles of burnt caramel powder (available in hot, iced, or blended variants); and Coconut Double Mocha Macchiato, espresso, white mocha sauce, coconut milk and mocha drizzle (available in hot, iced, or blended variants). The collection of Starbucks Winter Food includes returning favorites and new dishes. Returning favorites are the Mango Float Cake, a buttery cake layered with mango mousse and soft and crunchy meringue, finished with mango buttercream icing; and My Valentine Doughnut, a doughnut filled with vanilla custard filling. New items are: No Sugar Added White Belgian Chocolate and Pecan Cookie, Acai Berry Bowl Cheesecake, Mixed Berries Yogurt Parfait, Roasted Chicken Caesar Parmesan Cheese and Sun-dried Tomatoes on Focaccia, and the Smoked Bacon and Mushroom Bake. Starbucks Winter Merchandise is available in all Starbucks stores and on the Starbucks flagship store on Lazada and Shopee while supplies last. There is the Guardian Dragon and Its Keeper and 2024 Zodiac Collection which includes Zodiac Dragon inspired mugs and lifestyle items celebrating the Year of the Dragon. Philippine exclusives are the FY24 Coffee and Tea Tumbler which comes with 10 free Tall vouchers for coffee and tea beverages, and festive mugs focusing on scenic views and festivities in different parts of the country. Finally, there is the Starbucks Winter Coffee collection, which is available in all Starbucks stores while supplies last. These are the Single-origin Guatemala Casi Cielo, Single-origin Honduras Marcala, and the Costa Rica Tres Rios.
\nLAST December, Mercato Centrale launched their latest addition near the Bridgetowne Obstacle Course and The Victor statue in Bridgetowne, Pasig. This newest addition to Mercato Centrale\u2019s markets offers a diverse range of freshly prepared meals, artisanal snacks, and gourmet refreshments. With a focus on quality, variety, and convenience, the market endeavors to cater to the tastes and needs of both athletes and spectators alike. The market is open every week from Thursday to Sunday (4 to 10 p.m.) and offers a combination of live music, chilled beverages, and different cuisines from its vendors. Throughout 2023, Mercato Centrale has actively supported small food businesses across their various markets, including Mercato Food Park, Mercato High StrEAT, Mercato Centrale HQ, and Mercato Centrale at McKinley West in Taguig.
\nSPOT HAPPY with Krispy Kreme this 2024 and be one of the lucky customers to get a dozen from the more than 500,000 Original Glazed Doughnuts that the American doughnut brand will be giving away for 2024. For the Spot Happy campaign, customers have to spot happy moments in their day and magnify their happiness using the Original Glazed Doughnut as their lens. Krispy Kreme unveiled its Spot Happy video, https://fb.watch/j1Ip_pW1ar/, which shows how. Krispy Kreme stores will be holding the 365 Days of Happy, during which every day in more than 100 stores nationwide for 365 days, will give one dozen Original Glazed doughnuts for free to guests who qualify in their Spot Happy surprise criteria of the day. There are no announced instructions. Just visit a nearby store, and fit the day\u2019s special rule. 365 Days of Happy will run until the end of the year in select stores nationwide, https://bit.ly/SpotHappyMoments.
\nPARTY appetizers and at home snacking get a sophisticated twist with FairPrice\u2019s range of potato chips and nuts, including the award-winning Truffle Potato Chips. These new chips and nuts can be enjoyed on their own or paired with food and drinks. Made from 100% fresh potatoes, the crispy FairPrice Potato Chips can be prepared in a bowl with dips, like tomato salsa, cheese, and garlic aioli. For an appetizing pre-dinner experience pair the Truffle Potato Chips with a bottle of wine. Then there is FairPrice\u2019s range of nuts such as Baked Almonds and California Pistachios, which are sourced from the USA. The chips can be found at leading supermarkets in Metro Manila now. FairPrice California Pistachios and Baked Almonds are available at SM Supermarket, Landmark Supermarket, and South Supermarket. FairPrice will also be launching a wider range of nuts in Philippine supermarkets in the coming months. FairPrice\u2019s range of potato chips and nuts are exclusively distributed in the Philippines by High Tower, Inc.
\nWHILE customers often seek things that offer the best value for their money, they sometimes feel that they need to settle for less. That is not the case with Jollibee\u2019s Mix Match Combos, where each option combines value and flavor. These combos offer a variety of Jollibee\u2019s best-tasting products, for a filling and wallet-friendly meal \u2014 for P75, they can select a main and a side, enjoying savings of up to P45.\u00a0 First, the customer has to choose one main dish (Yumburger, Jolly Spaghetti, a Burger Steak, or Tuna Pie), then choose one side (Peach Mango Pie, Coke Float, Jolly Crispy Fries, Choco Sundae, or Pineapple Juice). Jollibee\u2019s Mix Match Combos are available nationwide for P75 via dine-in, take-out, or drive-through.
\n", "content_text": "1 of 5\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n \n\nThe Peninsula celebrates the Feast of the Three Kings\nTHE PENINSULA Manila brings the holiday season to a close with the Celebration of the Feast of the Three Kings on Jan. 6, Saturday. From 11 am to noon, the Three Kings will visit The Peninsula Manila, bringing with them presents for children. There will be special celebrations starting with a parade around the hotel bringing the Three Kings from the East \u2014 Melchor, Gaspar and Balthazar \u2014 to The Lobby before proceeding to Escolta restaurant where a buffet lunch awaits guests. The Three Kings lunch buffet price is P3,000 and available from noon to 2:30 p.m. The Feast of the Three Kings is also a time for indulging one\u2019s sweet tooth. Visit The Peninsula Boutique for a taste of Roscon de Reyes (P990), a traditional Spanish brioche-like sweet bread that represents the three kings\u2019 crowns that\u2019s eaten on the Feast of the Three Kings which celebrates Epiphany when the Three Kings came to visit the baby Jesus in Bethlehem. For inquiries or further information call 887-2888, extensions 6691 and 6694 (Restaurant Reservations), e-mail diningpmn@peninsula.com or visit peninsula.com.\n\nNew drinks, food, and merch at PHL Starbucks stores\nNOW available is The Starbucks\u2019 Winter selection, featuring a variety of new drinks. January also sees new dishes and new merchandise that fit the post-holiday season. The new Starbucks Winter Beverages are: Honey Plum Pure Matcha Latte, topped with plum cold foam and sweet plum sprinkles (available in hot, iced); Vienna Creamy Latte, Starbucks espresso infused with vanilla mascarpone cheese with vanilla seeds, topped with mocha sauce, a creamy mascarpone cheese foam and sprinkles of burnt caramel powder (available in hot, iced, or blended variants); and Coconut Double Mocha Macchiato, espresso, white mocha sauce, coconut milk and mocha drizzle (available in hot, iced, or blended variants). The collection of Starbucks Winter Food includes returning favorites and new dishes. Returning favorites are the Mango Float Cake, a buttery cake layered with mango mousse and soft and crunchy meringue, finished with mango buttercream icing; and My Valentine Doughnut, a doughnut filled with vanilla custard filling. New items are: No Sugar Added White Belgian Chocolate and Pecan Cookie, Acai Berry Bowl Cheesecake, Mixed Berries Yogurt Parfait, Roasted Chicken Caesar Parmesan Cheese and Sun-dried Tomatoes on Focaccia, and the Smoked Bacon and Mushroom Bake. Starbucks Winter Merchandise is available in all Starbucks stores and on the Starbucks flagship store on Lazada and Shopee while supplies last. There is the Guardian Dragon and Its Keeper and 2024 Zodiac Collection which includes Zodiac Dragon inspired mugs and lifestyle items celebrating the Year of the Dragon. Philippine exclusives are the FY24 Coffee and Tea Tumbler which comes with 10 free Tall vouchers for coffee and tea beverages, and festive mugs focusing on scenic views and festivities in different parts of the country. Finally, there is the Starbucks Winter Coffee collection, which is available in all Starbucks stores while supplies last. These are the Single-origin Guatemala Casi Cielo, Single-origin Honduras Marcala, and the Costa Rica Tres Rios.\n\nMercato Centrale launches new market at Bridgetowne\nLAST December, Mercato Centrale launched their latest addition near the Bridgetowne Obstacle Course and The Victor statue in Bridgetowne, Pasig. This newest addition to Mercato Centrale\u2019s markets offers a diverse range of freshly prepared meals, artisanal snacks, and gourmet refreshments. With a focus on quality, variety, and convenience, the market endeavors to cater to the tastes and needs of both athletes and spectators alike. The market is open every week from Thursday to Sunday (4 to 10 p.m.) and offers a combination of live music, chilled beverages, and different cuisines from its vendors. Throughout 2023, Mercato Centrale has actively supported small food businesses across their various markets, including Mercato Food Park, Mercato High StrEAT, Mercato Centrale HQ, and Mercato Centrale at McKinley West in Taguig.\n\nKrispy Kreme is giving away 500,000 doughnuts in 2024\nSPOT HAPPY with Krispy Kreme this 2024 and be one of the lucky customers to get a dozen from the more than 500,000 Original Glazed Doughnuts that the American doughnut brand will be giving away for 2024. For the Spot Happy campaign, customers have to spot happy moments in their day and magnify their happiness using the Original Glazed Doughnut as their lens. Krispy Kreme unveiled its Spot Happy video, https://fb.watch/j1Ip_pW1ar/, which shows how. Krispy Kreme stores will be holding the 365 Days of Happy, during which every day in more than 100 stores nationwide for 365 days, will give one dozen Original Glazed doughnuts for free to guests who qualify in their Spot Happy surprise criteria of the day. There are no announced instructions. Just visit a nearby store, and fit the day\u2019s special rule. 365 Days of Happy will run until the end of the year in select stores nationwide, https://bit.ly/SpotHappyMoments.\n\nFairPrice potato chips and nuts now available in supermarkets\nPARTY appetizers and at home snacking get a sophisticated twist with FairPrice\u2019s range of potato chips and nuts, including the award-winning Truffle Potato Chips. These new chips and nuts can be enjoyed on their own or paired with food and drinks. Made from 100% fresh potatoes, the crispy FairPrice Potato Chips can be prepared in a bowl with dips, like tomato salsa, cheese, and garlic aioli. For an appetizing pre-dinner experience pair the Truffle Potato Chips with a bottle of wine. Then there is FairPrice\u2019s range of nuts such as Baked Almonds and California Pistachios, which are sourced from the USA. The chips can be found at leading supermarkets in Metro Manila now. FairPrice California Pistachios and Baked Almonds are available at SM Supermarket, Landmark Supermarket, and South Supermarket. FairPrice will also be launching a wider range of nuts in Philippine supermarkets in the coming months. FairPrice\u2019s range of potato chips and nuts are exclusively distributed in the Philippines by High Tower, Inc.\n\nJollibee offers Mix Match Combos\nWHILE customers often seek things that offer the best value for their money, they sometimes feel that they need to settle for less. That is not the case with Jollibee\u2019s Mix Match Combos, where each option combines value and flavor. These combos offer a variety of Jollibee\u2019s best-tasting products, for a filling and wallet-friendly meal \u2014 for P75, they can select a main and a side, enjoying savings of up to P45.\u00a0 First, the customer has to choose one main dish (Yumburger, Jolly Spaghetti, a Burger Steak, or Tuna Pie), then choose one side (Peach Mango Pie, Coke Float, Jolly Crispy Fries, Choco Sundae, or Pineapple Juice). Jollibee\u2019s Mix Match Combos are available nationwide for P75 via dine-in, take-out, or drive-through.", "date_published": "2024-01-04T00:03:00+08:00", "date_modified": "2024-01-03T18:29:28+08:00", "authors": [ { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/zievelivminerth/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/b32fbfdef56dafe9033e030c6a656bfb?s=512&d=mm&r=g" } ], "author": { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/zievelivminerth/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/b32fbfdef56dafe9033e030c6a656bfb?s=512&d=mm&r=g" }, "image": "https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Roscon-de-Reyes-Thumb.jpg", "tags": [ "Dining In/Out", "FairPrice Group", "jollibee", "mercato centrale", "starbucks", "the peninsula manila", "Arts & Leisure", "Editors' Picks" ] }, { "id": "https://www.bworldonline.com/?p=566690", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/arts-and-leisure/2024/01/04/566690/the-bistro-group-to-expand-in-2024/", "title": "The Bistro Group to expand in 2024", "content_html": "THE YEAR 2023 saw significant growth for The Bistro Group, which ended the year with 23 concepts and over 180 stores nationwide. It opened multiple stores in major malls and free-standing venues in Metro Manila and in Clark, Pampanga and Bacolod City.
\nThis year will see the entry of new local and international brands.
\nOpening in Q1 2024 is Morton\u2019s Steakhouse. Founded in Chicago in 1978, USD prime-aged steaks forms part of its core menu, along with fresh seafood, hand-picked produce, appetizers and desserts.
\nAlso launching in Q1 2024 is Fogo de Ch\u00e3o, an internationally renowned restaurant founded in Southern Brazil in 1979. It focuses on the technique of churrasco \u2014 roasting high-quality cuts of meat over an open flame. The Bistro Group joins Fogo\u2019s existing international franchise partners in Mexico and the Middle East.
\nThere are also several homegrown restaurant concepts planned for expansion or launching this year, from Filipino, Chinese, Western to Mediterranean cuisines.
\nThe food hall My South Hall at Conrad S\u2019Maison will have a brand refresh with the introduction of new counters including Sarap+ Bistro Filipino, Fratboys & Sons (burgers, wings and salads), Xi Nen Hotpot, and the return of WCKD Milk Tea.
\nAlso in the offing are the launch of Chinese restaurant/bar Red Lotus by Modern Shang and a new Mediterranean brand by Spanish chef Alfredo Rodriguez of Bistronomia.
\nThis year will also see the opening of more branches of existing restaurant concepts.
\n", "content_text": "THE YEAR 2023 saw significant growth for The Bistro Group, which ended the year with 23 concepts and over 180 stores nationwide. It opened multiple stores in major malls and free-standing venues in Metro Manila and in Clark, Pampanga and Bacolod City.\nThis year will see the entry of new local and international brands.\nOpening in Q1 2024 is Morton\u2019s Steakhouse. Founded in Chicago in 1978, USD prime-aged steaks forms part of its core menu, along with fresh seafood, hand-picked produce, appetizers and desserts.\nAlso launching in Q1 2024 is Fogo de Ch\u00e3o, an internationally renowned restaurant founded in Southern Brazil in 1979. It focuses on the technique of churrasco \u2014 roasting high-quality cuts of meat over an open flame. The Bistro Group joins Fogo\u2019s existing international franchise partners in Mexico and the Middle East.\nThere are also several homegrown restaurant concepts planned for expansion or launching this year, from Filipino, Chinese, Western to Mediterranean cuisines.\nThe food hall My South Hall at Conrad S\u2019Maison will have a brand refresh with the introduction of new counters including Sarap+ Bistro Filipino, Fratboys & Sons (burgers, wings and salads), Xi Nen Hotpot, and the return of WCKD Milk Tea.\nAlso in the offing are the launch of Chinese restaurant/bar Red Lotus by Modern Shang and a new Mediterranean brand by Spanish chef Alfredo Rodriguez of Bistronomia.\nThis year will also see the opening of more branches of existing restaurant concepts.", "date_published": "2024-01-04T00:02:02+08:00", "date_modified": "2024-01-03T18:30:39+08:00", "authors": [ { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/zievelivminerth/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/b32fbfdef56dafe9033e030c6a656bfb?s=512&d=mm&r=g" } ], "author": { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/zievelivminerth/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/b32fbfdef56dafe9033e030c6a656bfb?s=512&d=mm&r=g" }, "image": "https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Mortons-Steakhouse.jpg", "tags": [ "the bistro group", "Arts & Leisure" ] }, { "id": "https://www.bworldonline.com/?p=566691", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/arts-and-leisure/2024/01/04/566691/you-cant-reverse-the-ageing-process-but-these-5-things-can-help-you-live-longer/", "title": "You can\u2019t reverse the ageing process but these 5 things can help you live longer", "content_html": "AT THIS time of year many of us resolve to prioritize our health. So, it is no surprise there\u2019s a roaring trade of products purporting to guarantee you live longer, be healthier and look more youthful.
\nWhile an estimated 25% of longevity is determined by our genes, the rest is determined by what we do, day to day.
\nThere are no quick fixes or short cuts to living longer and healthier lives, but the science is clear on the key principles. Here are five things you can do to extend your lifespan and improve your health.
\n1. Eat a predominantly plant-based diet
\nWhat you eat has a huge impact on your health. The evidence overwhelmingly shows eating a diet high in plant-based foods is associated with health and longevity.
\nIf you eat more plant-based foods and less meat, processed foods, sugar, and salt, you reduce your risk of a range of illnesses that shorten our lives, including heart disease and cancer.
\nPlant-based foods are rich in nutrients, phytochemicals, antioxidants, and fiber. They\u2019re also anti-inflammatory. All of this protects against damage to our cells as we age, which helps prevent disease.
\nNo particular diet is right for everyone but one of the most studied and healthiest is the Mediterranean diet. It\u2019s based on the eating patterns of people who live in countries around the Mediterranean Sea and emphases vegetables, fruits, wholegrains, legumes, nuts and seeds, fish and seafood, and olive oil.
\n2. Aim for a healthy weight
\nAnother important way you can be healthier is to try and achieve a healthy weight, as obesity increases the risk of a number of health problems that shorten our lives.
\nObesity puts strain on all of our body systems and has a whole myriad of physiological effects including causing inflammation and hormonal disturbances. These increase your chances of a number of diseases, including heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes and a number of cancers.
\nIn addition to affecting us physically, obesity is also associated with poorer psychological health. It\u2019s linked to depression, low self-esteem, and stress.
\nOne of the biggest challenges we face in the developed world is that we live in an environment that promotes obesity. The ubiquitous marketing and the easy availability of high-calorie foods our bodies are hard-wired to crave mean it\u2019s easy to consume too many calories.
\n3. Exercise regularly
\nWe all know that exercise is good for us \u2014 the most common resolution we make this time of year is to do more exercise and to get fitter. Regular exercise protects against chronic illness, lowers your stress, and improves your mental health.
\nWhile one of the ways exercising helps you is by supporting you to control your weight and lowering your body fat levels, the effects are broader and include improving your glucose (blood sugar) use, lowering your blood pressure, reducing inflammation, and improving blood flow and heart function.
\nWhile it\u2019s easy to get caught up in all of the hype about different exercise strategies, the evidence suggests that any way you can include physical activity in your day has health benefits. You don\u2019t have to run marathons or go to the gym for hours every day. Build movement into your day in any way that you can and do things that you enjoy.
\n4. Don\u2019t smoke
\nIf you want to be healthier and live longer then don\u2019t smoke or vape.
\nSmoking cigarettes affects almost every organ in the body and is associated with both a shorter and lower quality of life. There is no safe level of smoking \u2014 every cigarette increases your chances of developing a range of cancers, heart disease, and diabetes.
\nEven if you have been smoking for years, by giving up smoking at any age you can experience health benefits almost immediately, and you can reverse many of the harmful effects of smoking.
\nIf you\u2019re thinking of switching to vapes as a healthy long-term option, think again. The long-term health effects of vaping are not fully understood and they come with their own health risks.
\n5. Prioritize social connection
\nWhen we talk about living healthier and longer, we tend to focus on what we do to our physical bodies. But one of the most important discoveries over the past decade has been the recognition of the importance of spiritual and psychological health.
\nPeople who are lonely and socially isolated have a much higher risk of dying early and are more likely to suffer from heart disease, stroke, dementia, as well as anxiety and depression.
\nAlthough we don\u2019t fully understand the mechanisms, it\u2019s likely due to both behavioral and biological factors. While people who are more socially connected are more likely to engage in healthy behaviors, there also seems to be a more direct physiological effect of loneliness on the body.
\nSo if you want to be healthier and live longer, build and maintain your connections to others.
\nHassan Vally is an associate professor in Epidemiology at Deakin University.
\n", "content_text": "AT THIS time of year many of us resolve to prioritize our health. So, it is no surprise there\u2019s a roaring trade of products purporting to guarantee you live longer, be healthier and look more youthful.\nWhile an estimated 25% of longevity is determined by our genes, the rest is determined by what we do, day to day.\nThere are no quick fixes or short cuts to living longer and healthier lives, but the science is clear on the key principles. Here are five things you can do to extend your lifespan and improve your health.\n1. Eat a predominantly plant-based diet\nWhat you eat has a huge impact on your health. The evidence overwhelmingly shows eating a diet high in plant-based foods is associated with health and longevity.\nIf you eat more plant-based foods and less meat, processed foods, sugar, and salt, you reduce your risk of a range of illnesses that shorten our lives, including heart disease and cancer.\nPlant-based foods are rich in nutrients, phytochemicals, antioxidants, and fiber. They\u2019re also anti-inflammatory. All of this protects against damage to our cells as we age, which helps prevent disease.\nNo particular diet is right for everyone but one of the most studied and healthiest is the Mediterranean diet. It\u2019s based on the eating patterns of people who live in countries around the Mediterranean Sea and emphases vegetables, fruits, wholegrains, legumes, nuts and seeds, fish and seafood, and olive oil.\n2. Aim for a healthy weight\nAnother important way you can be healthier is to try and achieve a healthy weight, as obesity increases the risk of a number of health problems that shorten our lives.\nObesity puts strain on all of our body systems and has a whole myriad of physiological effects including causing inflammation and hormonal disturbances. These increase your chances of a number of diseases, including heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes and a number of cancers.\nIn addition to affecting us physically, obesity is also associated with poorer psychological health. It\u2019s linked to depression, low self-esteem, and stress.\nOne of the biggest challenges we face in the developed world is that we live in an environment that promotes obesity. The ubiquitous marketing and the easy availability of high-calorie foods our bodies are hard-wired to crave mean it\u2019s easy to consume too many calories.\n3. Exercise regularly\nWe all know that exercise is good for us \u2014 the most common resolution we make this time of year is to do more exercise and to get fitter. Regular exercise protects against chronic illness, lowers your stress, and improves your mental health.\nWhile one of the ways exercising helps you is by supporting you to control your weight and lowering your body fat levels, the effects are broader and include improving your glucose (blood sugar) use, lowering your blood pressure, reducing inflammation, and improving blood flow and heart function.\nWhile it\u2019s easy to get caught up in all of the hype about different exercise strategies, the evidence suggests that any way you can include physical activity in your day has health benefits. You don\u2019t have to run marathons or go to the gym for hours every day. Build movement into your day in any way that you can and do things that you enjoy.\n4. Don\u2019t smoke\nIf you want to be healthier and live longer then don\u2019t smoke or vape.\nSmoking cigarettes affects almost every organ in the body and is associated with both a shorter and lower quality of life. There is no safe level of smoking \u2014 every cigarette increases your chances of developing a range of cancers, heart disease, and diabetes.\nEven if you have been smoking for years, by giving up smoking at any age you can experience health benefits almost immediately, and you can reverse many of the harmful effects of smoking.\nIf you\u2019re thinking of switching to vapes as a healthy long-term option, think again. The long-term health effects of vaping are not fully understood and they come with their own health risks.\n5. Prioritize social connection\nWhen we talk about living healthier and longer, we tend to focus on what we do to our physical bodies. But one of the most important discoveries over the past decade has been the recognition of the importance of spiritual and psychological health.\nPeople who are lonely and socially isolated have a much higher risk of dying early and are more likely to suffer from heart disease, stroke, dementia, as well as anxiety and depression.\nAlthough we don\u2019t fully understand the mechanisms, it\u2019s likely due to both behavioral and biological factors. While people who are more socially connected are more likely to engage in healthy behaviors, there also seems to be a more direct physiological effect of loneliness on the body.\nSo if you want to be healthier and live longer, build and maintain your connections to others.\nHassan Vally is an associate professor in Epidemiology at Deakin University.", "date_published": "2024-01-04T00:01:03+08:00", "date_modified": "2024-01-03T18:32:19+08:00", "authors": [ { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/zievelivminerth/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/b32fbfdef56dafe9033e030c6a656bfb?s=512&d=mm&r=g" } ], "author": { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/zievelivminerth/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/b32fbfdef56dafe9033e030c6a656bfb?s=512&d=mm&r=g" }, "image": "https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/old-senior-asian-friends-retired-people-hapiness-positive-laugh-smile-conversation-together-living-room-nursing-home-seniors-participating-group-activities-adult-daycare-center-.jpg", "tags": [ "Hassan Vally", "health", "The Conversation", "Arts & Leisure" ] }, { "id": "https://www.bworldonline.com/?p=566353", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/arts-and-leisure/2024/01/03/566353/2024-a-full-theatrical-calendar/", "title": "2024: A full theatrical calendar", "content_html": "\r\n \r\n\r\nTHE theater, dance, and music scene last year was vibrant and jampacked, and it seems that 2024 will be no different. Here are some shows that will keep calendars full this year.
\nFATE
\nJAN. 12
\nThe Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO) starts off the year with an evening of classical mastery. For Fate, its 5th concert in its 39th season which started last year, the PPO will perform Tchaikovsky\u2019s Symphony No.4 Op. 36 in F minor and Brahms\u2019 Piano Concerto No. 1 Op. 15 in D minor under the baton of Grzegorz Nowak. American pianist Jerome Rose will be the guest soloist for this symphonic journey. The concert will take place at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater in Circuit Makati.
KUMPRONTASYON
\nJAN. 18 – 21
\nPETA Plus will start the year with Kumprontasyon, a revival of one-act plays that previously ran as a thesis by director Melvin Lee in September. The three plays, which challenge the audience to confront the country\u2019s unresolved historical past, will be shown this month at the PETA Theater Center in Quezon City.
Kumprontasyon includes Lakambini by Allan Palileo, featuring performances by Sherry Lara and Teroy Guzman, The Impossible Dream by Guelan Luarca, featuring performances by Romnick Sarmenta and Ron Capinding, and A Color for Tomorrow by Joshua Lim So, featuring performances by Missy Maramara, Adrienne Vergara, Gillian Vicencio, Eric Dela Cruz, and Carlon Matobato.
\nPRINSIPE BAHAGHARI
\nJAN. 19 – 28
\nMulat Theater\u2019s Prinsipe Bahaghari, Vladimeir Gonzales\u2019 Filipino puppet adaptation of The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exup\u00e9ry, will be returning to the stage this month. Directed by Aina Ramolete, the puppet play revolves around the journey of the Rainbow Prince who is in search of a companion who would help him in caring for his flower, the Gumamela, in his home planet.
This adaptation has puppets made from rattan and uses Filipino culture and language to make the play accessible to children. The January run will be staged at the PowerMac Center Spotlight Blackbox Theater of Circuit Makati.
\nJOY AND DALOY
\nJAN. 27
\nThe Daloy Dance Company and Joy Alpuerto Ritter are bringing Joy and Daloy to the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) stage in a one-night-only show. The twin-bill production will feature the dances ItikLandia and BABAE, showcasing a mix of creative choreography, explorations of compelling themes, and fusions of traditional Filipino elements with contemporary expressions.
The show aims to help foster a deeper appreciation for contemporary dance. It will take place at the Tanghalang Ignacio Gimenez (CCP Black Box Theater) at the CCP Complex in Pasay City.
\nHERO Z
\nJANUARY TO MAY
\nThe Philippine Stagers Foundation is currently touring a historical fiction musical with zombies nationwide. Hero Z, written and directed by the multi-awarded film and theater director Vince Ta\u00f1ada, features music by composer Pipo Cifra. It stars Johnrey Rivas, Vean Olmedo, Adelle Ibarrientos, Gerald Magallanes, Oj Arci, Jp Lopez, Chin Ortega, Rotsen Etolle, Bea Martin, and Fidel Redado.
The musical looks at the struggles of four friends whose lives are juxtaposed with those of heroes Bonifacio, Rizal, Kudarat, and Mabini, as they fight modern ills of a dystopic place and time. The musical will be staged in various venues across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
\nPIANO RAPTURE
\nFEB. 9
\nCelebrity pianist Krystian Zimerman will take center stage in the PPO\u2019s 6th concert for its 39th season, Piano Rapture, on Feb. 9.
Grzegrz Nowak will conduct the orchestra as they perform Stanislaw Moniuszko\u2019s The Fairy Tale Overture, Beethoven\u2019s Piano Concerto no. 4, op. 58, G major, and Rachmaninoff\u2019s Symphony no. 2 op. 27. The concert will take place at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater in Circuit Makati.
\nRAMA, HARI
\nFEBRUARY
\nAlice Reyes Dance Philippines\u2019 ballet Rama, Hari, which ran at The Metropolitan Theater and at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater last September, will\u00a0 have a rerun in February. The modern rock opera-ballet is a collaboration of five National Artists and an adaptation of the epic Sanskrit poem \u201cRamayana.\u201d
The production features popular singers and incorporates traditional theater, song, and dance devices found and shared among Asian nations. Returning cast members have yet to be announced.
\nTHE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE
\nFEBRUARY – MARCH
\nThe Sandbox Collective\u2019s 10th anniversary season begins with The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, an award-winning Broadway musical about an eclectic group of six mid-pubescents who vie for the spelling championship of a lifetime.
The musical will be under the direction of Missy Maramara, with SPIT\u2019s Dingdong Rosales as assistant director and Rony Fortich as musical director. It will run from February to March at the PowerMac Center Spotlight Theater, Circuit Makati.
\nDON PASQUALE
\nMARCH 8
\nDon Pasquale, the PPO\u2019s penultimate concert of the season, will focus on the magic of opera. It will be a semi-staged opera performance of Gaetano Donizetti\u2019s Don Pasquale as the orchestra plays under the guidance of Grzergorz Nowak. The performance will take place at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater in Circuit Makati.
BETRAYAL
\nMARCH 1 – 17
\nAn acclaimed play by British theater icon and Nobel Prize winner in Literature Harold Pinter will be making its Manila premiere this March. Repertory Philippines will be mounting the production at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium of RCBC Plaza in Makati.
The cast features London-based Filipino actors James Bradwell, James Cooney, and Vanessa White, with Jef Flores and Regina De Vera as covers. The production employs a reverse-chronological structure to examine the consequences of an extramarital affair on three complex individuals. The production will be directed by Manila-born and New York and London-based actor and theater director Victor Lirio.
\nPINGKIAN: ISANG MUSIKAL
\nMARCH 1 – 24
\nTanghalang Pilipino\u2019s final production of its 37th season is the debut of Pingkian: Isang Musikal, an exploration of the life of Emilio Jacinto as the Philippine revolution ends and leads up to the start of the Philippine-American war.
The musical will star Vic Robinson as Emilio Jacinto and Gab Pangilinan as his wife, Catalina de Jesus. It will be directed by Jenny Jamora, with a book by Juan Ekis and music by Ejay Yatco, who also serves as musical director.
\nMISS SAIGON
\nMARCH 23 – MAY 5
\nGMG Productions will bring the touring production of Miss Saigon to the Theatre at Solaire from March 23 to May 5. The new production is directed by Laurence Connor, featuring a musical staging by Bob Avian with extra choreography by Geoffrey Garratt. The musical by Claude-Michel Sch\u00f6nberg features lyrics by Richard Maltby Jr. and Alain Boublil. The cast has yet to be announced.
FETE FRANCAISE
\nAPRIL 19
\nThe PPO\u2019s 39th season shall culminate with its eighth concert, Fete Francaise, on April 19. The orchestra will perform a commissioned Filipino work, Camille Saint-Sa\u00ebns\u2019 Introduction and Rondo capriccioso, op. 28, and Maurice Ravel\u2019s Daphnis & Chlo\u00e9, Suites 1 & 2.
Violinist Diomedes Saraza will be the guest performer and Grzegorz Nowak will conduct the orchestra. The concert will take place at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater in Circuit Makati.
\nONE MORE CHANCE THE MUSICAL
\nAPRIL
\nPETA has announced that it will be staging One More Chance the Musical, featuring the music of Ben&Ben, this April at the PETA Theater Center in Quezon City. The story, based on a 2007 Star Cinema film of the same name, follows two college sweethearts who face the challenges of adult life and their tumultuous romantic journey, including struggles, conflicts, and an eventual breakup.
The announcement was made by Ben&Ben at the closing night curtain call of PETA\u2019s production of Walang Aray in October. The stage adaptation of the film will serve as the theater company\u2019s season ender.
\nKUNG PAANO NANALO SA KARERA SI ROSANG TABA
\nAPRIL
\nDulaang UP\u2019s Kung Paano Nanalo sa Karera si Rosang Taba, based on a short story by Dean Francis Alfar, is returning this April.
Adapted by Rody Vera and Maynard Manansala, directed by Jose Estrella, and starring Kiki Baento in the titular role, the play was initially staged at the University Theater Main Stage of UP Diliman in March and April of 2023. More details on the rerun have yet to be announced.
\nI LOVE YOU, YOU\u2019RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE
\nJUNE 7 TO 30
\nRepertory Philippines will be bringing another Off-Broadway musical to RCBC Plaza\u2019s Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium this year. Written by Joe Di Pietro (book and lyrics) and Jimmy Roberts (music), I Love You, You\u2019re Perfect, Now Change is a series of vignettes on love and relationships involving a wide cast of characters, ranging from big-city singles and awkward wallflowers to suburban settlers and sassy seniors. They will all be played by a cast of four.
The show will be directed by Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo, with Cara Barredo as assistant director. Also in the creative team are Ejay Yatco (musical direction) and Joey Mendoza (set design).
\nPATINTERO SA AYALA AVENUE
\nJUNE
\nWritten and directed by Rafael Jimenez, a new original Filipino play entitled Patintero sa Ayala Avenue will be staged by CAST PH \u2014 best known for their staged readings \u2014 in June at a venue that has yet to be announced.
The story centers on a 16-year-old boy who is kicked out of school and has a night on the town in Makati\u2019s Poblacion to find out what happens to the lights on Ayala Avenue after Christmas. The show will star Zo\u00eb de Ocampo.
\nVIRGIN LABFEST
\nJUNE
\nCCP\u2019s annual theater festival Virgin Labfest (VLF), which is usually held around June, selected 12 one-act plays for its 19th edition this year. The 12 untried, untested, and unstaged plays were selected from 145 submissions received early last year.
The selection committee was composed of festival directors Tess Jamias and Marco Via\u00f1a, together with VLF founders Writers Bloc Inc.\u2019s Rody Vera and director-playwright Herbie Go.
\nLITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS
\nJULY – AUGUST
\nThe Sandbox Collective will be staging the sci-fi musical Little Shop of Horrors, which is one of the longest-running Off-Broadway shows. The tongue-in-cheek comedy has been produced worldwide and will make its return to the Philippine stage under the direction of the theater group\u2019s Managing Artistic Director, Toff De Venecia, with musical direction by pianist and musical director Ejay Yatco.
It will run from July to August at the Globe Auditorium, Maybank Performing Arts Theater, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.
\nOTHELLO
\nOCTOBER
\nThe second play in CAST PH\u2019s season is Shakespeare\u2019s Othello, which will be directed by the company\u2019s artistic director Nelsito Gomez. The production will star Tarek El Tayech as Othello, Gab Pangilinan as Desdemona, Maronne Cruz as Emilia, and Reb Atadero as Iago.
One of William Shakespeare\u2019s renowned tragedies, believed to have been written around 1603, the play is set in Venice and the island of Cyprus, and revolves around themes of jealousy, manipulation, and racism. Further details on this particular staging like the full cast, venue, and ticketing details have yet to be announced.
\nTINY BEAUTIFUL THINGS
\nNOVEMBER
\nThe Sandbox Collective will conclude its 2024 season with the Manila premiere of Tiny Beautiful Things, based on the bestselling book by Cheryl Strayed and adapted for the stage by Nia Vardalos. Recently released as a limited TV series starring Kathryn Hahn, Tiny Beautiful Things is a play about reaching when you\u2019re stuck, healing when you\u2019re broken, and finding the courage to take on the questions that have no answers.
The show is set to be directed by Jenny Jamora. It will have a three-week limited engagement in November at the Zobel De Ayala Recital Hall, Maybank Performing Arts Theater, BGC, Taguig.
\nGOING HOME TO CHRISTMAS
\nNOVEMBER – DECEMBER
\nRepertory Philippines will cap the season with Going Home to Christmas, an original jukebox musical featuring the music of Jose Mari Chan, whose name has become synonymous with Christmas. It will be directed by Leo Rialp, and written by Robbie Guevara, Luna Gri\u00f1o-Inocian, and Joel Trinidad, with additional scenes by Cathy Azanza-Dy.
Though the story is still being written, Ms. Gri\u00f1o-Inocian teased that it centers on four relationships between father and son, husband and wife, boyfriend and girlfriend. \u201cIt is set in an airport because everyone is going home to Christmas,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s sort of like Love Actually except it\u2019s very Pinoy in sentiment and a lot of the stories will sound familiar.\u201d
\nSHOWS WITH DATES TO BE ANNOUNCED
\nJonathan Larson\u2019s beloved musical Rent will be restaged this year by 9 Works Theatrical, following the company\u2019s staging of Larsen\u2019s other work tick, tick\u2026 BOOM! in 2023. Auditions for Rent were held last September, so casting announcements will be coming soon. The musical was last staged in the Philippines in 2010 and 2011.
Another original jukebox musical is coming to the Newport World Resorts stage this year. Buruguduystunstugudunstuy: Ang Parokya ni Edgar Musical will be performed at the Newport Performing Arts Theater, with a cast led by Felicity Kyle Napuli, Marynor Madamesila, Tex Ordo\u00f1ez-De Leon, and Natasha Cabrera. It is directed by Dexter M. Santos, with a book by Rody Vera and musical direction and arrangement by Ejay Yatco.
\nFinally, there is Repertory Theater for Young Audiences\u2019 (RTYA) offering this year: Jepoy and the Magic Circle. An adaptation of a children\u2019s story by Gilda Cordero Fernando, the light-hearted musical centers on Jepoy and his dog, Galis, as they enter the whimsical balete world to attend a tikbalang wedding. The adaptation will be directed by RTYA creative director Joy Virata and written by Rody Vera, with music and lyrics by Ejay Yatco. \u2014 Bront\u00eb H. Lacsamana
\n", "content_text": "1 of 2\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n \nTHE theater, dance, and music scene last year was vibrant and jampacked, and it seems that 2024 will be no different. Here are some shows that will keep calendars full this year.\nFATE\nJAN. 12\nThe Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO) starts off the year with an evening of classical mastery. For Fate, its 5th concert in its 39th season which started last year, the PPO will perform Tchaikovsky\u2019s Symphony No.4 Op. 36 in F minor and Brahms\u2019 Piano Concerto No. 1 Op. 15 in D minor under the baton of Grzegorz Nowak. American pianist Jerome Rose will be the guest soloist for this symphonic journey. The concert will take place at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater in Circuit Makati.\nKUMPRONTASYON\nJAN. 18 – 21\nPETA Plus will start the year with Kumprontasyon, a revival of one-act plays that previously ran as a thesis by director Melvin Lee in September. The three plays, which challenge the audience to confront the country\u2019s unresolved historical past, will be shown this month at the PETA Theater Center in Quezon City. \nKumprontasyon includes Lakambini by Allan Palileo, featuring performances by Sherry Lara and Teroy Guzman, The Impossible Dream by Guelan Luarca, featuring performances by Romnick Sarmenta and Ron Capinding, and A Color for Tomorrow by Joshua Lim So, featuring performances by Missy Maramara, Adrienne Vergara, Gillian Vicencio, Eric Dela Cruz, and Carlon Matobato.\nPRINSIPE BAHAGHARI\nJAN. 19 – 28\nMulat Theater\u2019s Prinsipe Bahaghari, Vladimeir Gonzales\u2019 Filipino puppet adaptation of The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exup\u00e9ry, will be returning to the stage this month. Directed by Aina Ramolete, the puppet play revolves around the journey of the Rainbow Prince who is in search of a companion who would help him in caring for his flower, the Gumamela, in his home planet. \nThis adaptation has puppets made from rattan and uses Filipino culture and language to make the play accessible to children. The January run will be staged at the PowerMac Center Spotlight Blackbox Theater of Circuit Makati.\nJOY AND DALOY\nJAN. 27\nThe Daloy Dance Company and Joy Alpuerto Ritter are bringing Joy and Daloy to the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) stage in a one-night-only show. The twin-bill production will feature the dances ItikLandia and BABAE, showcasing a mix of creative choreography, explorations of compelling themes, and fusions of traditional Filipino elements with contemporary expressions. \nThe show aims to help foster a deeper appreciation for contemporary dance. It will take place at the Tanghalang Ignacio Gimenez (CCP Black Box Theater) at the CCP Complex in Pasay City.\nHERO Z\nJANUARY TO MAY\nThe Philippine Stagers Foundation is currently touring a historical fiction musical with zombies nationwide. Hero Z, written and directed by the multi-awarded film and theater director Vince Ta\u00f1ada, features music by composer Pipo Cifra. It stars Johnrey Rivas, Vean Olmedo, Adelle Ibarrientos, Gerald Magallanes, Oj Arci, Jp Lopez, Chin Ortega, Rotsen Etolle, Bea Martin, and Fidel Redado. \nThe musical looks at the struggles of four friends whose lives are juxtaposed with those of heroes Bonifacio, Rizal, Kudarat, and Mabini, as they fight modern ills of a dystopic place and time. The musical will be staged in various venues across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.\nPIANO RAPTURE\nFEB. 9\nCelebrity pianist Krystian Zimerman will take center stage in the PPO\u2019s 6th concert for its 39th season, Piano Rapture, on Feb. 9. \nGrzegrz Nowak will conduct the orchestra as they perform Stanislaw Moniuszko\u2019s The Fairy Tale Overture, Beethoven\u2019s Piano Concerto no. 4, op. 58, G major, and Rachmaninoff\u2019s Symphony no. 2 op. 27. The concert will take place at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater in Circuit Makati.\nRAMA, HARI\nFEBRUARY\nAlice Reyes Dance Philippines\u2019 ballet Rama, Hari, which ran at The Metropolitan Theater and at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater last September, will\u00a0 have a rerun in February. The modern rock opera-ballet is a collaboration of five National Artists and an adaptation of the epic Sanskrit poem \u201cRamayana.\u201d\nThe production features popular singers and incorporates traditional theater, song, and dance devices found and shared among Asian nations. Returning cast members have yet to be announced.\nTHE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE\nFEBRUARY – MARCH\nThe Sandbox Collective\u2019s 10th anniversary season begins with The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, an award-winning Broadway musical about an eclectic group of six mid-pubescents who vie for the spelling championship of a lifetime. \nThe musical will be under the direction of Missy Maramara, with SPIT\u2019s Dingdong Rosales as assistant director and Rony Fortich as musical director. It will run from February to March at the PowerMac Center Spotlight Theater, Circuit Makati.\nDON PASQUALE\nMARCH 8\nDon Pasquale, the PPO\u2019s penultimate concert of the season, will focus on the magic of opera. It will be a semi-staged opera performance of Gaetano Donizetti\u2019s Don Pasquale as the orchestra plays under the guidance of Grzergorz Nowak. The performance will take place at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater in Circuit Makati.\nBETRAYAL\nMARCH 1 – 17\nAn acclaimed play by British theater icon and Nobel Prize winner in Literature Harold Pinter will be making its Manila premiere this March. Repertory Philippines will be mounting the production at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium of RCBC Plaza in Makati.\nThe cast features London-based Filipino actors James Bradwell, James Cooney, and Vanessa White, with Jef Flores and Regina De Vera as covers. The production employs a reverse-chronological structure to examine the consequences of an extramarital affair on three complex individuals. The production will be directed by Manila-born and New York and London-based actor and theater director Victor Lirio.\nPINGKIAN: ISANG MUSIKAL\nMARCH 1 – 24\nTanghalang Pilipino\u2019s final production of its 37th season is the debut of Pingkian: Isang Musikal, an exploration of the life of Emilio Jacinto as the Philippine revolution ends and leads up to the start of the Philippine-American war.\nThe musical will star Vic Robinson as Emilio Jacinto and Gab Pangilinan as his wife, Catalina de Jesus. It will be directed by Jenny Jamora, with a book by Juan Ekis and music by Ejay Yatco, who also serves as musical director.\nMISS SAIGON\nMARCH 23 – MAY 5\nGMG Productions will bring the touring production of Miss Saigon to the Theatre at Solaire from March 23 to May 5. The new production is directed by Laurence Connor, featuring a musical staging by Bob Avian with extra choreography by Geoffrey Garratt. The musical by Claude-Michel Sch\u00f6nberg features lyrics by Richard Maltby Jr. and Alain Boublil. The cast has yet to be announced.\nFETE FRANCAISE\nAPRIL 19\nThe PPO\u2019s 39th season shall culminate with its eighth concert, Fete Francaise, on April 19. The orchestra will perform a commissioned Filipino work, Camille Saint-Sa\u00ebns\u2019 Introduction and Rondo capriccioso, op. 28, and Maurice Ravel\u2019s Daphnis & Chlo\u00e9, Suites 1 & 2.\nViolinist Diomedes Saraza will be the guest performer and Grzegorz Nowak will conduct the orchestra. The concert will take place at the Samsung Performing Arts Theater in Circuit Makati.\nONE MORE CHANCE THE MUSICAL\nAPRIL\nPETA has announced that it will be staging One More Chance the Musical, featuring the music of Ben&Ben, this April at the PETA Theater Center in Quezon City. The story, based on a 2007 Star Cinema film of the same name, follows two college sweethearts who face the challenges of adult life and their tumultuous romantic journey, including struggles, conflicts, and an eventual breakup.\nThe announcement was made by Ben&Ben at the closing night curtain call of PETA\u2019s production of Walang Aray in October. The stage adaptation of the film will serve as the theater company\u2019s season ender.\nKUNG PAANO NANALO SA KARERA SI ROSANG TABA\nAPRIL\nDulaang UP\u2019s Kung Paano Nanalo sa Karera si Rosang Taba, based on a short story by Dean Francis Alfar, is returning this April. \nAdapted by Rody Vera and Maynard Manansala, directed by Jose Estrella, and starring Kiki Baento in the titular role, the play was initially staged at the University Theater Main Stage of UP Diliman in March and April of 2023. More details on the rerun have yet to be announced.\nI LOVE YOU, YOU\u2019RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE\nJUNE 7 TO 30\nRepertory Philippines will be bringing another Off-Broadway musical to RCBC Plaza\u2019s Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium this year. Written by Joe Di Pietro (book and lyrics) and Jimmy Roberts (music), I Love You, You\u2019re Perfect, Now Change is a series of vignettes on love and relationships involving a wide cast of characters, ranging from big-city singles and awkward wallflowers to suburban settlers and sassy seniors. They will all be played by a cast of four.\nThe show will be directed by Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo, with Cara Barredo as assistant director. Also in the creative team are Ejay Yatco (musical direction) and Joey Mendoza (set design).\nPATINTERO SA AYALA AVENUE\nJUNE\nWritten and directed by Rafael Jimenez, a new original Filipino play entitled Patintero sa Ayala Avenue will be staged by CAST PH \u2014 best known for their staged readings \u2014 in June at a venue that has yet to be announced.\nThe story centers on a 16-year-old boy who is kicked out of school and has a night on the town in Makati\u2019s Poblacion to find out what happens to the lights on Ayala Avenue after Christmas. The show will star Zo\u00eb de Ocampo.\nVIRGIN LABFEST\nJUNE\nCCP\u2019s annual theater festival Virgin Labfest (VLF), which is usually held around June, selected 12 one-act plays for its 19th edition this year. The 12 untried, untested, and unstaged plays were selected from 145 submissions received early last year. \nThe selection committee was composed of festival directors Tess Jamias and Marco Via\u00f1a, together with VLF founders Writers Bloc Inc.\u2019s Rody Vera and director-playwright Herbie Go.\nLITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS\nJULY – AUGUST\nThe Sandbox Collective will be staging the sci-fi musical Little Shop of Horrors, which is one of the longest-running Off-Broadway shows. The tongue-in-cheek comedy has been produced worldwide and will make its return to the Philippine stage under the direction of the theater group\u2019s Managing Artistic Director, Toff De Venecia, with musical direction by pianist and musical director Ejay Yatco.\nIt will run from July to August at the Globe Auditorium, Maybank Performing Arts Theater, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.\nOTHELLO\nOCTOBER\nThe second play in CAST PH\u2019s season is Shakespeare\u2019s Othello, which will be directed by the company\u2019s artistic director Nelsito Gomez. The production will star Tarek El Tayech as Othello, Gab Pangilinan as Desdemona, Maronne Cruz as Emilia, and Reb Atadero as Iago.\nOne of William Shakespeare\u2019s renowned tragedies, believed to have been written around 1603, the play is set in Venice and the island of Cyprus, and revolves around themes of jealousy, manipulation, and racism. Further details on this particular staging like the full cast, venue, and ticketing details have yet to be announced.\nTINY BEAUTIFUL THINGS\nNOVEMBER\nThe Sandbox Collective will conclude its 2024 season with the Manila premiere of Tiny Beautiful Things, based on the bestselling book by Cheryl Strayed and adapted for the stage by Nia Vardalos. Recently released as a limited TV series starring Kathryn Hahn, Tiny Beautiful Things is a play about reaching when you\u2019re stuck, healing when you\u2019re broken, and finding the courage to take on the questions that have no answers.\nThe show is set to be directed by Jenny Jamora. It will have a three-week limited engagement in November at the Zobel De Ayala Recital Hall, Maybank Performing Arts Theater, BGC, Taguig.\nGOING HOME TO CHRISTMAS\nNOVEMBER – DECEMBER\nRepertory Philippines will cap the season with Going Home to Christmas, an original jukebox musical featuring the music of Jose Mari Chan, whose name has become synonymous with Christmas. It will be directed by Leo Rialp, and written by Robbie Guevara, Luna Gri\u00f1o-Inocian, and Joel Trinidad, with additional scenes by Cathy Azanza-Dy.\nThough the story is still being written, Ms. Gri\u00f1o-Inocian teased that it centers on four relationships between father and son, husband and wife, boyfriend and girlfriend. \u201cIt is set in an airport because everyone is going home to Christmas,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s sort of like Love Actually except it\u2019s very Pinoy in sentiment and a lot of the stories will sound familiar.\u201d\nSHOWS WITH DATES TO BE ANNOUNCED\nJonathan Larson\u2019s beloved musical Rent will be restaged this year by 9 Works Theatrical, following the company\u2019s staging of Larsen\u2019s other work tick, tick\u2026 BOOM! in 2023. Auditions for Rent were held last September, so casting announcements will be coming soon. The musical was last staged in the Philippines in 2010 and 2011.\nAnother original jukebox musical is coming to the Newport World Resorts stage this year. Buruguduystunstugudunstuy: Ang Parokya ni Edgar Musical will be performed at the Newport Performing Arts Theater, with a cast led by Felicity Kyle Napuli, Marynor Madamesila, Tex Ordo\u00f1ez-De Leon, and Natasha Cabrera. It is directed by Dexter M. Santos, with a book by Rody Vera and musical direction and arrangement by Ejay Yatco.\nFinally, there is Repertory Theater for Young Audiences\u2019 (RTYA) offering this year: Jepoy and the Magic Circle. An adaptation of a children\u2019s story by Gilda Cordero Fernando, the light-hearted musical centers on Jepoy and his dog, Galis, as they enter the whimsical balete world to attend a tikbalang wedding. The adaptation will be directed by RTYA creative director Joy Virata and written by Rody Vera, with music and lyrics by Ejay Yatco. \u2014 Bront\u00eb H. Lacsamana", "date_published": "2024-01-03T00:04:14+08:00", "date_modified": "2024-01-02T18:22:44+08:00", "authors": [ { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/cedadiantityclea/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/eda8ffc51ac7ec8b231b61b4c6a0d14e?s=512&d=mm&r=g" } ], "author": { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/cedadiantityclea/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/eda8ffc51ac7ec8b231b61b4c6a0d14e?s=512&d=mm&r=g" }, "image": "https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/JOY-DALOY-Thumb.jpg", "tags": [ "Alice Reyes Dance Philippines", "Bront\u00eb H. Lacsamana", "CAST PH", "Cultural Center of the Philippines", "Daloy Dance Company", "Dulaang UP", "Joy Alpuerto Ritter", "Krystian Zimerman", "Patintero sa Ayala Avenue", "PETA Theater", "Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra", "Philippine Stagers Foundation", "Rama Hari", "Repertory Philippines", "The Sandbox Collective", "Virgin Labfest", "Arts & Leisure", "Editors' Picks" ] }, { "id": "https://www.bworldonline.com/?p=566361", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/arts-and-leisure/2024/01/03/566361/steady-hearts-steady-hands-as-vatican-experts-restore-masterpieces/", "title": "Steady hearts, steady hands as Vatican experts restore masterpieces", "content_html": "VATICAN CITY \u2014 Whenever Alessandra Zarelli, a restorer at the Vatican Museums, works on a masterpiece by an artist such as Michelangelo, she steadies her heart so her mind can concentrate on the task at hand.
\nThe standing order for Ms. Zarelli and her colleagues is to work with just chemistry, physics, and history and leave any excitement and awe at the door.
\n\u201cThe emotion of working on something like a Michelangelo is truly indescribable,\u201d said Ms. Zarelli, 56, who helped restore a fresco by the Renaissance master in the Pauline Chapel.
\n\u201cBut I try to remain detached while I am working. I have to concentrate on the material and the work that I have to do, otherwise the emotion would paralyze me,\u201d she said while working on a painting from 1550 called Enthroned Madonna and Child with Saints by Italian artist Moretto da Brescia.
\n\u201cAt the end of the day I keep some moments for myself to contemplate and enjoy the emotion of being so close to marvelous masterpieces,\u201d she said
\nShe is one of about 36 members of an elite team at the Vatican Museums\u2019 restoration lab for paintings and wood.
\nThe team is responsible for looking after thousands of square meters of wall paintings, including the Sistine Chapel frescoes, as well as some 5,300 framed oil paintings and dozens of wooden statues.
\nA CENTURY OF RESTORATION
\nThe restoration of the Moretto painting included a new internal frame, smoothing out deformations caused by humidity, removal of oxidized varnishes and retouches on both the painting as well as the gilded external frame.
The painting and wood restoration lab, one of eight specialized units in the museums, allowed a few news organizations rare access in December to mark its 100th anniversary.
\nRestoration techniques are constantly changing and today\u2019s restorers often have to repair or remove mistakes of their predecessors who worked decades or even centuries ago with rudimentary techniques.
\nAnother problem, usually from the distant past, is that restorers were not technicians but artists in their own right, some of whom thought they could \u201cimprove\u201d the original by adding highlights or contrasts, according to the lab\u2019s director, Francesca Persegati.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s important to be humble in this job, to respect the work but also to have a scientific background to understand the materials,\u201d she said.
\nBefore a painting even reaches the lab, it already has undergone tests using ultra-violet, infra-red and other non-invasive methods to detect paint added later, pigmentation and any underlying sketches.
\nIn another part of the lab, Caterina Manisco was restoring an 1895 painting called Madonna and Child Between St. Theresa and St. Francis, by Emma Richards. The Italian-born artist worked in the court of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, a rarity for a woman at the time.
\n\u201cBecause she was a woman, I somehow feel very close to her,\u201d said Manisco, 40, an external restorer at the lab.
\nTo mark the 100th anniversary of the paintings and wood lab, the museums have placed QR codes near 37 works of art, allowing visitors to see beyond the surface and experience the many layers in the life of a restoration. \u2014 Reuters
\n", "content_text": "VATICAN CITY \u2014 Whenever Alessandra Zarelli, a restorer at the Vatican Museums, works on a masterpiece by an artist such as Michelangelo, she steadies her heart so her mind can concentrate on the task at hand.\nThe standing order for Ms. Zarelli and her colleagues is to work with just chemistry, physics, and history and leave any excitement and awe at the door.\n\u201cThe emotion of working on something like a Michelangelo is truly indescribable,\u201d said Ms. Zarelli, 56, who helped restore a fresco by the Renaissance master in the Pauline Chapel.\n\u201cBut I try to remain detached while I am working. I have to concentrate on the material and the work that I have to do, otherwise the emotion would paralyze me,\u201d she said while working on a painting from 1550 called Enthroned Madonna and Child with Saints by Italian artist Moretto da Brescia.\n\u201cAt the end of the day I keep some moments for myself to contemplate and enjoy the emotion of being so close to marvelous masterpieces,\u201d she said\nShe is one of about 36 members of an elite team at the Vatican Museums\u2019 restoration lab for paintings and wood.\nThe team is responsible for looking after thousands of square meters of wall paintings, including the Sistine Chapel frescoes, as well as some 5,300 framed oil paintings and dozens of wooden statues.\nA CENTURY OF RESTORATION\nThe restoration of the Moretto painting included a new internal frame, smoothing out deformations caused by humidity, removal of oxidized varnishes and retouches on both the painting as well as the gilded external frame.\nThe painting and wood restoration lab, one of eight specialized units in the museums, allowed a few news organizations rare access in December to mark its 100th anniversary.\nRestoration techniques are constantly changing and today\u2019s restorers often have to repair or remove mistakes of their predecessors who worked decades or even centuries ago with rudimentary techniques.\nAnother problem, usually from the distant past, is that restorers were not technicians but artists in their own right, some of whom thought they could \u201cimprove\u201d the original by adding highlights or contrasts, according to the lab\u2019s director, Francesca Persegati.\n\u201cIt\u2019s important to be humble in this job, to respect the work but also to have a scientific background to understand the materials,\u201d she said.\nBefore a painting even reaches the lab, it already has undergone tests using ultra-violet, infra-red and other non-invasive methods to detect paint added later, pigmentation and any underlying sketches.\nIn another part of the lab, Caterina Manisco was restoring an 1895 painting called Madonna and Child Between St. Theresa and St. Francis, by Emma Richards. The Italian-born artist worked in the court of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, a rarity for a woman at the time.\n\u201cBecause she was a woman, I somehow feel very close to her,\u201d said Manisco, 40, an external restorer at the lab.\nTo mark the 100th anniversary of the paintings and wood lab, the museums have placed QR codes near 37 works of art, allowing visitors to see beyond the surface and experience the many layers in the life of a restoration. \u2014 Reuters", "date_published": "2024-01-03T00:03:41+08:00", "date_modified": "2024-01-02T18:24:54+08:00", "authors": [ { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/zievelivminerth/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/b32fbfdef56dafe9033e030c6a656bfb?s=512&d=mm&r=g" } ], "author": { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/zievelivminerth/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/b32fbfdef56dafe9033e030c6a656bfb?s=512&d=mm&r=g" }, "image": "https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Michelangelos_David-scaled-e1633593733177.jpeg", "tags": [ "Alessandra Zarelli", "Featured2", "Michelangelo", "restoration", "Vatican City", "Arts & Leisure", "Editors' Picks" ] }, { "id": "https://www.bworldonline.com/?p=566362", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/arts-and-leisure/2024/01/03/566362/5-under-appreciated-crime-novels-you-should-read/", "title": "5 under-appreciated crime novels you should read", "content_html": "IT\u2019S HARD for writers to break into the crime fiction market. It\u2019s especially hard for authors who write in languages other than English or write on the anglophone periphery. Unless they are the big names of Nordic noir, translated crime novels are rarely advertised or placed in prominent positions in bookshops.
\nThis is a shame because there is a lot of great crime writing going on around the world. Below we offer a list of five novels by writers from Italy, Japan, Israel, New Zealand, and Finland. They might have passed you by, but are well worth reading.
\n![\"\"](\"https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Out-of-Season-A-Novel-Rocco-Schiavone-Mysteries-Book-3-Manzini-Antonio.jpg\")
1. Out of Season by Antonio Manzini
\nOut of Season (Harper, 2018), translated by Anthony Shugaar, is an engaging novel from bestselling Italian author Antonio Manzini. This is part of a crime series centered on police chief Rocco Schiavone, who has been exiled to the town of Aosta in the Alps after a dust up with his superiors in Rome.
\nA city lover who likes the sun and light clothing, Schiavone finds it very hard to get used to a mountainous, gossipy town and its constant cold weather. Grumpy and endowed with a \u201cRoman\u201d (that is, very cynical) sense of humor, Schiavone is an \u201coutsider\u201d police detective. He is surrounded by a group of loyal subordinates, including the young and efficient Italo Pierron and Caterina Rispoli, but also the hopeless D\u2019Intino who provides light moments in a series featuring gritty and violent crimes.
\nIn this novel, spring has finally arrived and Schiavone investigates a kidnapping and brutal murder that intersect with a mysterious car accident. The chapters move between the point of view of Chiara, a young woman from a rich and influential family who has been kidnapped, and Schiavone\u2019s efforts to find her before it\u2019s too late.
\nLike much Italian crime fiction, this novel delves into the topical issues of gender violence, criminal organizations, and extortionate moneylending in an Italy experiencing a crippling economic crisis.
\nDespite the serious issues tackled, Out of Season makes for engaging and easy reading due to the character of Schiavone, his biting sarcasm, and his confronting (and irresistible) way of dealing with others.
\n![\"\"](\"https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/The-Aosawa-Murders-by-Riku-Onda.jpg\")
2. The Aosawa Murders by Riku Onda
\nCrime fiction has a long history in Japan, something anglophone publishers are just starting to discover.
\nPushkin Vertigo have published the classic detective novels of Seishi Yokomizo and Yukito Ayatsuji to great acclaim. Penguin has also gotten in on the act, releasing Seicho Matsumoto\u2019s Tokyo Express in its Modern Classics series.
\nThe focus on classic detective novels hasn\u2019t distracted publishers from translating more contemporary works. Riku Onda\u2019s The Aosawa Murders, published by Bitter Lemon in 2022 and translated by Alison Watts, is one remarkable example. Onda is the pen name of Nanae Kumagai, one of Japan\u2019s leading contemporary crime writers.
\nThe Aosawa Murders is one of the most interesting, innovative crime novels of recent years. The murder at the heart of the novel is the mass poisoning of 17 people who attend a party hosted by the Aosawa family. Only two people survive: the housekeeper and Hisako, the attractive, blind daughter.
\nThe novel doesn\u2019t follow the usual pattern of much crime fiction. It doesn\u2019t directly offer an investigation into the murders. Rather, an unnamed narrator investigates an early true crime account of the murders by Makiko Seiga, a neighbor.
\nThe novel consists of a series of interviews with Seiga, her brother, witnesses, police officers, and, finally, the surviving family member and prime suspect, Hisako.
\nWhat stands out is the one-sided nature of these interviews. One of the significant features of crime fiction is the strong voice of the detective. Think Raymond Chandler\u2019s Philip Marlowe. Yet, in The Aosawa Murders, readers almost always receive the interviewees\u2019 responses. Rarely do we hear the questions or comments made by the interviewer.
\nReaders, thus, have to piece together the mystery behind the writing of the true crime story before making sense of the crime itself. This allows the story to focus on the broader impact of the crime. The Aosawa Murders is literary crime fiction at its best.
\n![\"\"](\"https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Murder-in-Jerusalem-A-Michael-Ohayon-Mystery-Michael-Ohayon-Series-6-by-Batya-Gur.jpg\")
3. Murder in Jerusalem by Batya Gur
\nThe last instalment of Batya Gur\u2019s Michael Ohayon crime series, Murder in Jerusalem, delves into Israeli society\u2019s internal divisions and the troubled history of the state of Israel.
\nOhayon is quiet and introspective and looks more like an intellectual than a policeman. His bookcase is filled with works by Chekhov, Gogol, Flaubert, Balzac, and Faulkner. He has a masters degree in Medieval history and started a PhD but abandoned a university career to marry his pregnant girlfriend. He is always in charge of complicated mysteries in which he makes use of his education to clear the smokescreen created by the villain.
\nIn Murder in Jerusalem (Harper Collins, 2006), translated by Evan Fallenberg, the investigation starts with the death of Tirzah Rubin, a set designer for Israel\u2019s state television station, who is found dead on the set of a film adaptation of a classic of Jewish literature, SY Agnon\u2019s story \u201cIddo and Eynam.\u201d
\nThe tragedy is initially treated as an accident, but when the head of production, Matty Cohen, also dies, it becomes apparent the deaths are not accidental.
\nOhayon is called to investigate what eventually becomes a multiple murder investigation with its roots in the Six-Day War. Ohayon\u2019s investigation reveals the crimes are the consequences of past violence and injustice never acknowledged or addressed. This thought-provoking novel offers insight into the world of TV journalism while condemning state propaganda and extreme nationalism.
\nMurder in Jerusalem is also a powerful endorsement for a peaceful coexistence with a Palestinian state. Sadly, it provides very topical reading in these troubled times.
\nReaders may also be interested in Palestinian writer Adania Shibli\u2019s Minor Detail, translated by Elisabeth Jaquette and published by Text (2020). Minor Detail recounts a historical crime during the war of 1948 and its present-day investigation by a Palestinian woman.
\n![\"\"](\"https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/The-Pain-Tourist-by-Paul-Cleave.jpg\")
4. The Pain Tourist by Paul Cleave
\nA cold case involving a home invasion in which two people died nine years earlier in Christchurch, New Zealand, is at the center of the intricate plot of The Pain Tourist (Orenda Books, 2022).
\nThe victims\u2019 son, James, has revived from a coma with memories that might provide clues to the crime, and police detective Rebecca Kent is assigned the case.
\nThings get complicated for Kent, as she is also investigating the rape and murder of a woman by a notorious New Zealand serial killer, The Cleaner. Or is it a copycat murder?
\nThe novel alternates between different perspectives. These include Kent\u2019s investigations, the villain\u2019s thoughts, and the memories James lived with during his years in a coma.
\nReaders of The Pain Tourist also become acquainted (or reacquainted) with Theodore Tate, the detective protagonist of four novels by Paul Cleave who ran the original investigation into the murder of James\u2019 parents. Tate is now working as a consultant for true crime television shows. Thus, the novel explores the fascination of audiences with the dark side of the human mind and media exploitation of crime, (hence the title).
\nMoving between past and present, The Pain Tourist is a beautifully written page turner with a final twist.
\n![\"\"](\"https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/The-Healer-A-Novel-by-Antti-Tuomainen.jpg\")
5. The Healer by Antti Tuomainen
\nCrime fiction has always responded to the burning issues of its time and place. Currently, these are the crisis of democracy, social and economic inequality, gender and sexuality, legacies of colonialism, and environmental degradation.
\nFinnish novelist Antti Tuomainen\u2019s The Healer (Harvill Secker, 2012), translated by Lola Rogers, is one of the first crime novels to have tackled climate change.
\nThe Healer is set in the near future in Helsinki. Yet, the Finnish capital is unrecognizable. Unrestricted economic development has accelerated global warming. Floods, rising sea levels, plagues, pandemics, and war have led to the mass displacement of over 650 million refugees. Waterfront suburbs are under water.
\nThis provides the setting for the search for a missing journalist, Johanna, who was investigating a number of brutal murders by a self-styled Healer. His motivation is to punish individuals who have contributed to the ensuing disaster.
\nUnsurprisingly, given the social breakdown, the police are uninterested in spending time looking for a missing woman. Instead, it falls to her husband, Tapani, a poet, to find his wife. He is assisted in this by a North-African climate refugee called Hamid.
\nThe Healer is an example of \u201ccrimate\u201d fiction. That is, novels that attempt to narrate the climate crisis through a criminal framework. The climate catastrophe is not a mere backdrop. It is a fundamental part of the story.
\nBy setting the story in the near future, Tuomainen makes visible the slow violence caused by everyday practices. In doing so, he wants readers to reflect on how current acceptable behaviors may \u2013 in the fullness of time \u2013 be viewed as criminal.
\nStewart King is an Associate Professor, School of Languages, Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics and Fellow of the Australian Academy of Humanities at Monash University. Barbara Pezzotti is a Senior Lecturer, School of Languages, Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics at Monash University. Both receive funding from the Australian Research Council.
\n", "content_text": "IT\u2019S HARD for writers to break into the crime fiction market. It\u2019s especially hard for authors who write in languages other than English or write on the anglophone periphery. Unless they are the big names of Nordic noir, translated crime novels are rarely advertised or placed in prominent positions in bookshops.\nThis is a shame because there is a lot of great crime writing going on around the world. Below we offer a list of five novels by writers from Italy, Japan, Israel, New Zealand, and Finland. They might have passed you by, but are well worth reading.\n\n1. Out of Season by Antonio Manzini\nOut of Season (Harper, 2018), translated by Anthony Shugaar, is an engaging novel from bestselling Italian author Antonio Manzini. This is part of a crime series centered on police chief Rocco Schiavone, who has been exiled to the town of Aosta in the Alps after a dust up with his superiors in Rome.\nA city lover who likes the sun and light clothing, Schiavone finds it very hard to get used to a mountainous, gossipy town and its constant cold weather. Grumpy and endowed with a \u201cRoman\u201d (that is, very cynical) sense of humor, Schiavone is an \u201coutsider\u201d police detective. He is surrounded by a group of loyal subordinates, including the young and efficient Italo Pierron and Caterina Rispoli, but also the hopeless D\u2019Intino who provides light moments in a series featuring gritty and violent crimes.\nIn this novel, spring has finally arrived and Schiavone investigates a kidnapping and brutal murder that intersect with a mysterious car accident. The chapters move between the point of view of Chiara, a young woman from a rich and influential family who has been kidnapped, and Schiavone\u2019s efforts to find her before it\u2019s too late.\nLike much Italian crime fiction, this novel delves into the topical issues of gender violence, criminal organizations, and extortionate moneylending in an Italy experiencing a crippling economic crisis.\nDespite the serious issues tackled, Out of Season makes for engaging and easy reading due to the character of Schiavone, his biting sarcasm, and his confronting (and irresistible) way of dealing with others.\n\n2. The Aosawa Murders by Riku Onda\nCrime fiction has a long history in Japan, something anglophone publishers are just starting to discover.\nPushkin Vertigo have published the classic detective novels of Seishi Yokomizo and Yukito Ayatsuji to great acclaim. Penguin has also gotten in on the act, releasing Seicho Matsumoto\u2019s Tokyo Express in its Modern Classics series.\nThe focus on classic detective novels hasn\u2019t distracted publishers from translating more contemporary works. Riku Onda\u2019s The Aosawa Murders, published by Bitter Lemon in 2022 and translated by Alison Watts, is one remarkable example. Onda is the pen name of Nanae Kumagai, one of Japan\u2019s leading contemporary crime writers.\nThe Aosawa Murders is one of the most interesting, innovative crime novels of recent years. The murder at the heart of the novel is the mass poisoning of 17 people who attend a party hosted by the Aosawa family. Only two people survive: the housekeeper and Hisako, the attractive, blind daughter.\nThe novel doesn\u2019t follow the usual pattern of much crime fiction. It doesn\u2019t directly offer an investigation into the murders. Rather, an unnamed narrator investigates an early true crime account of the murders by Makiko Seiga, a neighbor.\nThe novel consists of a series of interviews with Seiga, her brother, witnesses, police officers, and, finally, the surviving family member and prime suspect, Hisako.\nWhat stands out is the one-sided nature of these interviews. One of the significant features of crime fiction is the strong voice of the detective. Think Raymond Chandler\u2019s Philip Marlowe. Yet, in The Aosawa Murders, readers almost always receive the interviewees\u2019 responses. Rarely do we hear the questions or comments made by the interviewer.\nReaders, thus, have to piece together the mystery behind the writing of the true crime story before making sense of the crime itself. This allows the story to focus on the broader impact of the crime. The Aosawa Murders is literary crime fiction at its best.\n\n3. Murder in Jerusalem by Batya Gur\nThe last instalment of Batya Gur\u2019s Michael Ohayon crime series, Murder in Jerusalem, delves into Israeli society\u2019s internal divisions and the troubled history of the state of Israel.\nOhayon is quiet and introspective and looks more like an intellectual than a policeman. His bookcase is filled with works by Chekhov, Gogol, Flaubert, Balzac, and Faulkner. He has a masters degree in Medieval history and started a PhD but abandoned a university career to marry his pregnant girlfriend. He is always in charge of complicated mysteries in which he makes use of his education to clear the smokescreen created by the villain.\nIn Murder in Jerusalem (Harper Collins, 2006), translated by Evan Fallenberg, the investigation starts with the death of Tirzah Rubin, a set designer for Israel\u2019s state television station, who is found dead on the set of a film adaptation of a classic of Jewish literature, SY Agnon\u2019s story \u201cIddo and Eynam.\u201d\nThe tragedy is initially treated as an accident, but when the head of production, Matty Cohen, also dies, it becomes apparent the deaths are not accidental.\nOhayon is called to investigate what eventually becomes a multiple murder investigation with its roots in the Six-Day War. Ohayon\u2019s investigation reveals the crimes are the consequences of past violence and injustice never acknowledged or addressed. This thought-provoking novel offers insight into the world of TV journalism while condemning state propaganda and extreme nationalism.\nMurder in Jerusalem is also a powerful endorsement for a peaceful coexistence with a Palestinian state. Sadly, it provides very topical reading in these troubled times.\nReaders may also be interested in Palestinian writer Adania Shibli\u2019s Minor Detail, translated by Elisabeth Jaquette and published by Text (2020). Minor Detail recounts a historical crime during the war of 1948 and its present-day investigation by a Palestinian woman.\n\n4. The Pain Tourist by Paul Cleave\nA cold case involving a home invasion in which two people died nine years earlier in Christchurch, New Zealand, is at the center of the intricate plot of The Pain Tourist (Orenda Books, 2022).\nThe victims\u2019 son, James, has revived from a coma with memories that might provide clues to the crime, and police detective Rebecca Kent is assigned the case.\nThings get complicated for Kent, as she is also investigating the rape and murder of a woman by a notorious New Zealand serial killer, The Cleaner. Or is it a copycat murder?\nThe novel alternates between different perspectives. These include Kent\u2019s investigations, the villain\u2019s thoughts, and the memories James lived with during his years in a coma.\nReaders of The Pain Tourist also become acquainted (or reacquainted) with Theodore Tate, the detective protagonist of four novels by Paul Cleave who ran the original investigation into the murder of James\u2019 parents. Tate is now working as a consultant for true crime television shows. Thus, the novel explores the fascination of audiences with the dark side of the human mind and media exploitation of crime, (hence the title).\nMoving between past and present, The Pain Tourist is a beautifully written page turner with a final twist.\n\n5. The Healer by Antti Tuomainen\nCrime fiction has always responded to the burning issues of its time and place. Currently, these are the crisis of democracy, social and economic inequality, gender and sexuality, legacies of colonialism, and environmental degradation.\nFinnish novelist Antti Tuomainen\u2019s The Healer (Harvill Secker, 2012), translated by Lola Rogers, is one of the first crime novels to have tackled climate change.\nThe Healer is set in the near future in Helsinki. Yet, the Finnish capital is unrecognizable. Unrestricted economic development has accelerated global warming. Floods, rising sea levels, plagues, pandemics, and war have led to the mass displacement of over 650 million refugees. Waterfront suburbs are under water.\nThis provides the setting for the search for a missing journalist, Johanna, who was investigating a number of brutal murders by a self-styled Healer. His motivation is to punish individuals who have contributed to the ensuing disaster.\nUnsurprisingly, given the social breakdown, the police are uninterested in spending time looking for a missing woman. Instead, it falls to her husband, Tapani, a poet, to find his wife. He is assisted in this by a North-African climate refugee called Hamid.\nThe Healer is an example of \u201ccrimate\u201d fiction. That is, novels that attempt to narrate the climate crisis through a criminal framework. The climate catastrophe is not a mere backdrop. It is a fundamental part of the story.\nBy setting the story in the near future, Tuomainen makes visible the slow violence caused by everyday practices. In doing so, he wants readers to reflect on how current acceptable behaviors may \u2013 in the fullness of time \u2013 be viewed as criminal.\nStewart King is an Associate Professor, School of Languages, Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics and Fellow of the Australian Academy of Humanities at Monash University. Barbara Pezzotti is a Senior Lecturer, School of Languages, Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics at Monash University. Both receive funding from the Australian Research Council.", "date_published": "2024-01-03T00:02:42+08:00", "date_modified": "2024-01-02T18:30:21+08:00", "authors": [ { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/zievelivminerth/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/b32fbfdef56dafe9033e030c6a656bfb?s=512&d=mm&r=g" } ], "author": { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/zievelivminerth/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/b32fbfdef56dafe9033e030c6a656bfb?s=512&d=mm&r=g" }, "image": "https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Out-of-Season-A-Novel-Rocco-Schiavone-Mysteries-Book-3-Manzini-Antonio-Thumb.jpg", "tags": [ "Antonio Manzini", "Antti Tuomainen", "Barbara Pezzotti", "Batya Gur", "Featured2", "Paul Cleave", "Riku Onda", "Stewart King", "The Conversation", "Arts & Leisure", "Editors' Picks" ] }, { "id": "https://www.bworldonline.com/?p=566363", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/arts-and-leisure/2024/01/03/566363/american-idol-star-paula-abdul-sues-producer-nigel-lythgoe-for-sexual-assault/", "title": "American Idol star Paula Abdul sues producer Nigel Lythgoe for sexual assault", "content_html": "US singer, dancer and American Idol star Paula Abdul filed a lawsuit accusing British television executive Nigel Lythgoe of sexually assaulting her when they worked together on two popular talent shows, according to court documents.
\nAbdul, who rose to fame as a chart-topping singer in the late 1980s, alleged in a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Friday that Lythgoe sexually assaulted her in an elevator during the early seasons of TV singing competition series American Idol.
\nLythgoe, the producer of several hit television talent competitions, allegedly groped Abdul\u2019s breasts and genitals, among other unwanted physical contact in a hotel elevator after a day of auditions for American Idol. Abdul tried to push him away and ran as soon as the elevator doors opened, court documents said.
\nReuters was not immediately able to reach Abdul or Lythgoe for comment.
\nLythogoe denied the allegations, according to TMZ.
\n\u201cFor more than two decades, Paula and I have interacted as dear \u2014 and entirely platonic \u2014 friends and colleagues,\u201d he told TMZ. \u201cYesterday, however, out of the blue, I learned of these claims in the press and I want to be clear: not only are they false, they are deeply offensive to me and to everything I stand for.\u201d
\nAccording to court documents, Abdul immediately reported the assault by Lythgoe, an American Idol producer at the time, to her representatives but did not take action for fear of losing her job, the lawsuit said.
\nMoreover, Abdul\u2019s contracts prohibited her from speaking out, the lawsuit said.
\nAnother alleged assault took place years later when Abdul worked as a judge on So You Think You Can Dance, according to court documents. The star, 61, enjoyed renewed popularity in the early 2000s starring as a judge on talent TV series.
\nThe lawsuit alleges Lythgoe, 74, assaulted her on the couch of his Los Angeles home after a work dinner. Abdul again firmly rejected him and \u201cimmediately left Lythgoe\u2019s home,\u201d court documents said.
\nIn the lawsuit, Abdul levels other allegations at the entertainment industry mogul, including that Lythgoe once called to taunt her and said it had been \u201cseven years and the statute of limitations had run\u201d on the alleged assaults.
\nThe lawsuit alleged that the star also witnessed Lythgoe assault one of her assistants on So You Think You Can Dance.
\nThe lawsuit was submitted days before the Dec. 31 filing deadline established under the California\u2019s Sexual Abuse and Cover-Up Accountability Act. The legislation allows individuals to bring certain sexual abuse lawsuits that would otherwise have fallen outside the statute of limitations. \u2014 Reuters
\n", "content_text": "US singer, dancer and American Idol star Paula Abdul filed a lawsuit accusing British television executive Nigel Lythgoe of sexually assaulting her when they worked together on two popular talent shows, according to court documents.\nAbdul, who rose to fame as a chart-topping singer in the late 1980s, alleged in a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Friday that Lythgoe sexually assaulted her in an elevator during the early seasons of TV singing competition series American Idol.\nLythgoe, the producer of several hit television talent competitions, allegedly groped Abdul\u2019s breasts and genitals, among other unwanted physical contact in a hotel elevator after a day of auditions for American Idol. Abdul tried to push him away and ran as soon as the elevator doors opened, court documents said.\nReuters was not immediately able to reach Abdul or Lythgoe for comment.\nLythogoe denied the allegations, according to TMZ.\n\u201cFor more than two decades, Paula and I have interacted as dear \u2014 and entirely platonic \u2014 friends and colleagues,\u201d he told TMZ. \u201cYesterday, however, out of the blue, I learned of these claims in the press and I want to be clear: not only are they false, they are deeply offensive to me and to everything I stand for.\u201d\nAccording to court documents, Abdul immediately reported the assault by Lythgoe, an American Idol producer at the time, to her representatives but did not take action for fear of losing her job, the lawsuit said.\nMoreover, Abdul\u2019s contracts prohibited her from speaking out, the lawsuit said.\nAnother alleged assault took place years later when Abdul worked as a judge on So You Think You Can Dance, according to court documents. The star, 61, enjoyed renewed popularity in the early 2000s starring as a judge on talent TV series.\nThe lawsuit alleges Lythgoe, 74, assaulted her on the couch of his Los Angeles home after a work dinner. Abdul again firmly rejected him and \u201cimmediately left Lythgoe\u2019s home,\u201d court documents said.\nIn the lawsuit, Abdul levels other allegations at the entertainment industry mogul, including that Lythgoe once called to taunt her and said it had been \u201cseven years and the statute of limitations had run\u201d on the alleged assaults.\nThe lawsuit alleged that the star also witnessed Lythgoe assault one of her assistants on So You Think You Can Dance.\nThe lawsuit was submitted days before the Dec. 31 filing deadline established under the California\u2019s Sexual Abuse and Cover-Up Accountability Act. The legislation allows individuals to bring certain sexual abuse lawsuits that would otherwise have fallen outside the statute of limitations. \u2014 Reuters", "date_published": "2024-01-03T00:01:43+08:00", "date_modified": "2024-01-02T18:32:04+08:00", "authors": [ { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/zievelivminerth/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/b32fbfdef56dafe9033e030c6a656bfb?s=512&d=mm&r=g" } ], "author": { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/zievelivminerth/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/b32fbfdef56dafe9033e030c6a656bfb?s=512&d=mm&r=g" }, "image": "https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Paula-Abdul-Ryan-Seacrest-Simon-Cowell-and-Randy-Jackson-in-American-Idol-2002.jpg", "tags": [ "American Idol", "Nigel Lythgoe", "Paula Abdul", "sexual assault", "Arts & Leisure" ] }, { "id": "https://www.bworldonline.com/?p=566135", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/arts-and-leisure/2024/01/02/566135/metro-manila-film-festival-2023-deserving-winner/", "title": "Metro Manila Film Festival 2023: Deserving winner", "content_html": "Movie Review
\nFirefly
\nDirected by Zig Dulay
\nMTRCB Rating: PG
THE WINNER for Best Picture at the 2023 Metro Manila Film Festival\u2019s Gabi ng Parangal, Firefly, truly deserved it, and then some more.
\nAt the core of the story is the relationship between a boy (Tonton, played by Euwenn Mikael Aleta, who grows up to be Anthony Alvaro, played by Dingdong Dantes) and his mother (Elay, played by Alessandra de Rossi). The two bond over Elay\u2019s tales of an island of fireflies, where one can make a wish. Anthony Alvaro has become a successful children\u2019s book author, and recounts the stories behind his books in a series of flashbacks.
\n(Spoilers ahead!)
\nElay dies early on in the film, and Tonton sets off to find the island to bring his mother back to life. He rides a bus and meets his own merry band: Billy, a teenage grump (Miguel Tanfelix); ex-con Louie (Jeffrey Quizon), and teenage con artist Erika (Ysabel Ortega). After getting kicked off the bus, the three have to get Tonton to where he needs to be.
\nThe film is lovingly shot mostly in natural light, and the effect is almost curative against the seasonal blues. Each scene, bathed \u2014 even saturated \u2014 in such light, almost reaches out from the screen, allowing the audience an immersive experience. The film discusses a lot about light (as in the fireflies, and then some), so it makes sense for sunlight itself to appear almost as another character. The film shows stunning views of Bicol, as well as a stunning view of Manila Bay, so a Filipino viewer can suddenly begin to have more affection for this land. Not only does the film show the country in such sun-kissed glory; it shows these islands almost in a magical light, and one suddenly feels that fantastic stories can happen, right here.
\nYoung Mr. Aleta took home the Best Child Performer award this year; deservedly so. The boy has an air of both innocence and adventure that draws one in and makes one want to know what happens to him. Alessandra de Rossi, meanwhile, stole the screen in the 20 or so minutes that she appears. While she appears only in flashbacks and narrations after her death, her presence has a pull that makes one understand and love her as much as her son in the film does. Another standout performance was Jeffrey Quizon\u2019s, playing a remorseful ex-con returning to his family. It was a delight watching him, with a face so much like his father\u2019s (the late \u201cComedy King\u201d Dolphy), and the same sad air of a tragic clown (we noticed that he furrowed his brow just like his dad).
\nWe think that everybody of all ages should see this movie. The movie feels like kids\u2019 adventure movies of yore, where children could change their lives with a bike and a dream. It would remind children that there is wonder in the world still; and other worlds to explore, right here at home. For adults, it\u2019s a nice-enough movie to think about our whys, and a way to restore some hope and innocence. \u2014 Joseph L. Garcia
\n", "content_text": "Movie Review\nFirefly\nDirected by Zig Dulay\nMTRCB Rating: PG\nTHE WINNER for Best Picture at the 2023 Metro Manila Film Festival\u2019s Gabi ng Parangal, Firefly, truly deserved it, and then some more.\nAt the core of the story is the relationship between a boy (Tonton, played by Euwenn Mikael Aleta, who grows up to be Anthony Alvaro, played by Dingdong Dantes) and his mother (Elay, played by Alessandra de Rossi). The two bond over Elay\u2019s tales of an island of fireflies, where one can make a wish. Anthony Alvaro has become a successful children\u2019s book author, and recounts the stories behind his books in a series of flashbacks.\n(Spoilers ahead!)\nElay dies early on in the film, and Tonton sets off to find the island to bring his mother back to life. He rides a bus and meets his own merry band: Billy, a teenage grump (Miguel Tanfelix); ex-con Louie (Jeffrey Quizon), and teenage con artist Erika (Ysabel Ortega). After getting kicked off the bus, the three have to get Tonton to where he needs to be.\nThe film is lovingly shot mostly in natural light, and the effect is almost curative against the seasonal blues. Each scene, bathed \u2014 even saturated \u2014 in such light, almost reaches out from the screen, allowing the audience an immersive experience. The film discusses a lot about light (as in the fireflies, and then some), so it makes sense for sunlight itself to appear almost as another character. The film shows stunning views of Bicol, as well as a stunning view of Manila Bay, so a Filipino viewer can suddenly begin to have more affection for this land. Not only does the film show the country in such sun-kissed glory; it shows these islands almost in a magical light, and one suddenly feels that fantastic stories can happen, right here. \nYoung Mr. Aleta took home the Best Child Performer award this year; deservedly so. The boy has an air of both innocence and adventure that draws one in and makes one want to know what happens to him. Alessandra de Rossi, meanwhile, stole the screen in the 20 or so minutes that she appears. While she appears only in flashbacks and narrations after her death, her presence has a pull that makes one understand and love her as much as her son in the film does. Another standout performance was Jeffrey Quizon\u2019s, playing a remorseful ex-con returning to his family. It was a delight watching him, with a face so much like his father\u2019s (the late \u201cComedy King\u201d Dolphy), and the same sad air of a tragic clown (we noticed that he furrowed his brow just like his dad).\nWe think that everybody of all ages should see this movie. The movie feels like kids\u2019 adventure movies of yore, where children could change their lives with a bike and a dream. It would remind children that there is wonder in the world still; and other worlds to explore, right here at home. For adults, it\u2019s a nice-enough movie to think about our whys, and a way to restore some hope and innocence. \u2014 Joseph L. Garcia", "date_published": "2024-01-02T00:05:26+08:00", "date_modified": "2024-01-01T17:35:47+08:00", "authors": [ { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/cedadiantityclea/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/eda8ffc51ac7ec8b231b61b4c6a0d14e?s=512&d=mm&r=g" } ], "author": { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/cedadiantityclea/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/eda8ffc51ac7ec8b231b61b4c6a0d14e?s=512&d=mm&r=g" }, "image": "https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Firefly.jpg", "tags": [ "Joseph L. Garcia", "Arts & Leisure", "Editors' Picks" ], "summary": "THE WINNER for Best Picture at the 2023 Metro Manila Film Festival\u2019s Gabi ng Parangal, Firefly, truly deserved it, and then some more." }, { "id": "https://www.bworldonline.com/?p=566134", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/arts-and-leisure/2024/01/02/566134/metro-manila-film-festival-2023-messed-up-and-loving-it/", "title": "Metro Manila Film Festival 2023: Messed up and loving it", "content_html": "Movie Review
\nKampon
\nDirected by King Palisoc
\nMTRCB Rating: R-13
ONE can make an effective, if lazy horror flick with several jump scares lined up like ducks at a shoot. However, truly masterful works of horror exist to subvert ideas about things we love and depend on. Kampon uses a combination of gore, jump scares, and queasy dread for a story that sits uncomfortably in the mind long after the movie has ended.
\nThere are few things more sacred to the Filipino than family, and Kampon raises a menacing eyebrow to this ideal. Ex-cop Clark (played by Derek Ramsay, perhaps a nod to his turn as a cop in anti-piracy ads) and his wife Eileen (played by Beauty Gonzales) long for a child but are unable to conceive. Pressure and passive-aggressive praise from friends and family don\u2019t help the situation, and Eileen slides further into a slump. One night, a child named Jade (Erin Espiritu) appears at their doorstep, claiming to be Clark\u2019s long-lost daughter. Both reluctantly take in the child, but Eileen gradually begins to warm to her, while a guilty Clark\u2019s resentment for this girl festers every day. The girl, meanwhile, shows a measure of control over dark forces, and strange things begin to happen in their house.
\n(Spoilers ahead!)
\nThis film is messed up, and we mean that in the best way possible. Ms. Gonzales, known for her telenovela roles, turns out to be an effective ingenue. We dread along with her as the child slowly addles this mother figure, and when revenants summoned by the child carry her off to a terrible fate, she does so in a lovely white dress that emphasizes her role in all of this as an unwilling pawn. Mr. Ramsay plays his character well, which means that we sat on the fence whether to love him or hate him. On one hand, he effectively plays the role of a protective father figure, but then, the things he\u2019s protecting his family from are all mostly his fault. What these say about Filipino parental figures is up to your interpretation.
\nAs for the child actor, Ms. Espiritu, well: she has the air of a young Anne Curtis (now a big star), and shows amazing restraint and skill in a demanding role. The thing is though, despite the terrible things we see her do in the film, the young girl registers on the screen as an object of sympathy still. Together with an intelligently written script, the three twist the image of home and family, and one leaves the theater with some revulsion.
\nHorror isn\u2019t horror without special effects, and there is some relief in that the film employs elegant restraint in their use. Sure, there\u2019s gore and guts and twisting necks, but the camera lingers on them for seconds only, respecting the audience to piece the rest with their own imaginations, leading to true horror. Several times during the film, this writer found himself holding up a hand to block the screen: both to shield the eyes from what comes next, but also an entreaty for the horrors to stop \u2014 therefore making this film a true terror. Even the \u201czombies\u201d in the film have a calm, if unconvincing, serenity and dignity to them, leading one to actually sympathize with them. This would have been a stumbling block in another film, but it works in Kampon.
\nThe film might usher in a new era of horror in this country, and help sweep away some of the schlock and unintentional comedy that marks many of our horror films. We invite everyone to watch this to see the beginning of what could be a horror renaissance.\u00a0 \u2014 Joseph L. Garcia
\n", "content_text": "Movie Review\nKampon\nDirected by King Palisoc\nMTRCB Rating: R-13\nONE can make an effective, if lazy horror flick with several jump scares lined up like ducks at a shoot. However, truly masterful works of horror exist to subvert ideas about things we love and depend on. Kampon uses a combination of gore, jump scares, and queasy dread for a story that sits uncomfortably in the mind long after the movie has ended.\nThere are few things more sacred to the Filipino than family, and Kampon raises a menacing eyebrow to this ideal. Ex-cop Clark (played by Derek Ramsay, perhaps a nod to his turn as a cop in anti-piracy ads) and his wife Eileen (played by Beauty Gonzales) long for a child but are unable to conceive. Pressure and passive-aggressive praise from friends and family don\u2019t help the situation, and Eileen slides further into a slump. One night, a child named Jade (Erin Espiritu) appears at their doorstep, claiming to be Clark\u2019s long-lost daughter. Both reluctantly take in the child, but Eileen gradually begins to warm to her, while a guilty Clark\u2019s resentment for this girl festers every day. The girl, meanwhile, shows a measure of control over dark forces, and strange things begin to happen in their house.\n(Spoilers ahead!)\nThis film is messed up, and we mean that in the best way possible. Ms. Gonzales, known for her telenovela roles, turns out to be an effective ingenue. We dread along with her as the child slowly addles this mother figure, and when revenants summoned by the child carry her off to a terrible fate, she does so in a lovely white dress that emphasizes her role in all of this as an unwilling pawn. Mr. Ramsay plays his character well, which means that we sat on the fence whether to love him or hate him. On one hand, he effectively plays the role of a protective father figure, but then, the things he\u2019s protecting his family from are all mostly his fault. What these say about Filipino parental figures is up to your interpretation.\nAs for the child actor, Ms. Espiritu, well: she has the air of a young Anne Curtis (now a big star), and shows amazing restraint and skill in a demanding role. The thing is though, despite the terrible things we see her do in the film, the young girl registers on the screen as an object of sympathy still. Together with an intelligently written script, the three twist the image of home and family, and one leaves the theater with some revulsion.\nHorror isn\u2019t horror without special effects, and there is some relief in that the film employs elegant restraint in their use. Sure, there\u2019s gore and guts and twisting necks, but the camera lingers on them for seconds only, respecting the audience to piece the rest with their own imaginations, leading to true horror. Several times during the film, this writer found himself holding up a hand to block the screen: both to shield the eyes from what comes next, but also an entreaty for the horrors to stop \u2014 therefore making this film a true terror. Even the \u201czombies\u201d in the film have a calm, if unconvincing, serenity and dignity to them, leading one to actually sympathize with them. This would have been a stumbling block in another film, but it works in Kampon.\nThe film might usher in a new era of horror in this country, and help sweep away some of the schlock and unintentional comedy that marks many of our horror films. We invite everyone to watch this to see the beginning of what could be a horror renaissance.\u00a0 \u2014 Joseph L. Garcia", "date_published": "2024-01-02T00:04:24+08:00", "date_modified": "2024-01-01T17:36:49+08:00", "authors": [ { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/cedadiantityclea/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/eda8ffc51ac7ec8b231b61b4c6a0d14e?s=512&d=mm&r=g" } ], "author": { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/cedadiantityclea/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/eda8ffc51ac7ec8b231b61b4c6a0d14e?s=512&d=mm&r=g" }, "image": "https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Kampon.jpg", "tags": [ "Joseph L. Garcia", "Arts & Leisure", "Editors' Picks" ], "summary": "ONE can make an effective, if lazy horror flick with several jump scares lined up like ducks at a shoot. However, truly masterful works of horror exist to subvert ideas about things we love and depend on. Kampon uses a combination of gore, jump scares, and queasy dread for a story that sits uncomfortably in the mind long after the movie has ended." }, { "id": "https://www.bworldonline.com/?p=566133", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/arts-and-leisure/2024/01/02/566133/queen-margrethe-ii-announces-surprise-abdication-on-live-tv/", "title": "Queen Margrethe II announces surprise abdication on live TV", "content_html": "\n
DENMARK\u2019S Queen Margrethe II, Europe\u2019s longest-serving monarch, will abdicate on Jan. 14 after 52 years on the throne and will be succeeded by her eldest son Crown Prince Frederik, she announced on Sunday.
\nThe 83-year-old queen, who ascended the throne in 1972, made the surprise announcement on live TV during her traditional New Year\u2019s Eve speech, which is viewed by many in the country of 5.9 million people.
\nReferring to a successful back operation she underwent in February, she said, \u201cThe surgery naturally gave rise to thinking about the future \u2014 whether the time had come to leave the responsibility to the next generation.\u201d
\n\u201cI have decided that now is the right time. On 14 January 2024 \u2014 52 years after I succeeded my beloved father \u2014 I will step down as queen of Denmark,\u201d she said.
\n\u201cI leave the throne to my son, Crown Prince Frederik,\u201d she said.
\nThe queen became the longest-serving monarch in Europe following the death of Britain\u2019s Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022. In July, she became the longest-sitting monarch in Denmark\u2019s history.
\nIn Denmark, formal power resides with the elected parliament and its government. The monarch is expected to stay above partisan politics, representing the nation with traditional duties ranging from state visits to national day celebrations.
\nDenmark\u2019s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen thanked the queen for her life-long dedication to duty.
\n\u201cIt is still difficult to understand that the time has now come for a change of throne,\u201d Ms. Frederiksen said in a statement, adding that many Danes had never known another monarch.
\n\u201cQueen Margrethe is the epitome of Denmark and throughout the years has put words and feelings into who we are as a people and as a nation,\u201d she said.
\nBorn in 1940 to Denmark\u2019s former monarch King Frederik IX and Queen Ingrid, Margrethe has throughout her life enjoyed broad support from Danes, who are fond of her tactful and yet creative personality.
\nShe is also known for her love of archaeology and has taken part in several excavations.
\nShe became heir to her father in 1953 at the age of 31, after a constitutional amendment allowed women to inherit the throne.
\nIn 1967, she married French diplomat Henri de Laborde de Monpezat, who served as her royal consort until his death in 2018.
\nThe couple\u2019s two sons are Crown Prince Frederik, who will become King Frederik X, and Prince Joachim. Frederik married Mary Elizabeth Donaldson, an Australian, in 2004. \u2014 Reuters
\n", "content_text": "DENMARK\u2019S Queen Margrethe II, Europe\u2019s longest-serving monarch, will abdicate on Jan. 14 after 52 years on the throne and will be succeeded by her eldest son Crown Prince Frederik, she announced on Sunday.\nThe 83-year-old queen, who ascended the throne in 1972, made the surprise announcement on live TV during her traditional New Year\u2019s Eve speech, which is viewed by many in the country of 5.9 million people.\nReferring to a successful back operation she underwent in February, she said, \u201cThe surgery naturally gave rise to thinking about the future \u2014 whether the time had come to leave the responsibility to the next generation.\u201d\n\u201cI have decided that now is the right time. On 14 January 2024 \u2014 52 years after I succeeded my beloved father \u2014 I will step down as queen of Denmark,\u201d she said.\n\u201cI leave the throne to my son, Crown Prince Frederik,\u201d she said.\nThe queen became the longest-serving monarch in Europe following the death of Britain\u2019s Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022. In July, she became the longest-sitting monarch in Denmark\u2019s history.\nIn Denmark, formal power resides with the elected parliament and its government. The monarch is expected to stay above partisan politics, representing the nation with traditional duties ranging from state visits to national day celebrations.\nDenmark\u2019s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen thanked the queen for her life-long dedication to duty.\n\u201cIt is still difficult to understand that the time has now come for a change of throne,\u201d Ms. Frederiksen said in a statement, adding that many Danes had never known another monarch.\n\u201cQueen Margrethe is the epitome of Denmark and throughout the years has put words and feelings into who we are as a people and as a nation,\u201d she said.\nBorn in 1940 to Denmark\u2019s former monarch King Frederik IX and Queen Ingrid, Margrethe has throughout her life enjoyed broad support from Danes, who are fond of her tactful and yet creative personality.\nShe is also known for her love of archaeology and has taken part in several excavations.\nShe became heir to her father in 1953 at the age of 31, after a constitutional amendment allowed women to inherit the throne.\nIn 1967, she married French diplomat Henri de Laborde de Monpezat, who served as her royal consort until his death in 2018.\nThe couple\u2019s two sons are Crown Prince Frederik, who will become King Frederik X, and Prince Joachim. Frederik married Mary Elizabeth Donaldson, an Australian, in 2004. \u2014 Reuters", "date_published": "2024-01-02T00:03:23+08:00", "date_modified": "2024-01-01T17:35:32+08:00", "authors": [ { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/cedadiantityclea/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/eda8ffc51ac7ec8b231b61b4c6a0d14e?s=512&d=mm&r=g" } ], "author": { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/cedadiantityclea/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/eda8ffc51ac7ec8b231b61b4c6a0d14e?s=512&d=mm&r=g" }, "image": "https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/AL-default.jpg", "tags": [ "Queen Margrethe II", "Arts & Leisure", "Editors' Picks" ] }, { "id": "https://www.bworldonline.com/?p=566132", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/arts-and-leisure/2024/01/02/566132/chinas-fireworks-ban-sparks-fiery-debate-online-ahead-of-lunar-new-year/", "title": "China\u2019s fireworks ban sparks fiery debate online ahead of Lunar New Year", "content_html": "\n
CHINESE lawmakers on Friday weighed in on a fiery online debate on whether fireworks should be used to ring in the Lunar New Year in February, saying a total ban on pyrotechnics in the country credited with inventing them would be hard to implement.
\nIn an unusually frank response, lawmakers said air pollution prevention laws and fire safety regulations have led to \u201cdifferences in understanding\u201d of the ban on fireworks, which was never absolute.
\nIn 2017, official data showed 444 cities had banned fireworks. Since then, some cities have scaled back curbs, allowing fireworks at certain times of the year and at designated venues.
\nThis month, however, many counties rolled out notices prohibiting fireworks, rekindling discussion on the ban.
\n\u201cWe\u2019ve the right to fireworks,\u201d wrote a user of Weibo, a popular Chinese microblog.
\nAccording to folklore, the earliest fireworks were invented 2,000 years ago to drive away the nian, a mythical beast that preyed on people and livestock on the eve of the Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival.
\nSince then, fireworks have been used to celebrate other occasions: this January, after three years of COVID-19 curbs were lifted, some people defied bans \u2014 and authorities \u2014 and set off firecrackers.
\nBut some Chinese said the firework bans were necessary to protect the environment.
\n\u201cIt should be regulated due to pollution and safety (fire) hazards,\u201d a Weibo user said.
\nIn an online poll by the official Beijing Youth Daily this week, however, over 80% of respondents expressed support for fireworks during the Spring Festival, the most important holiday on the Chinese calendar.
\nSome also said the ban was ironic after the United Nations last week adopted the Spring Festival as an official holiday, a move cheered by Chinese officials.
\n\u201cThe Spring Festival belongs to the world, but China\u2019s is almost gone,\u201d wrote another Weibo user.
\nIn southern Hunan province, a major fireworks manufacturing hub, exports totaled 4.11 billion yuan ($579 million) in January to November, state media reported, far exceeding domestic sales. \u2014 Reuters
\n", "content_text": "CHINESE lawmakers on Friday weighed in on a fiery online debate on whether fireworks should be used to ring in the Lunar New Year in February, saying a total ban on pyrotechnics in the country credited with inventing them would be hard to implement.\nIn an unusually frank response, lawmakers said air pollution prevention laws and fire safety regulations have led to \u201cdifferences in understanding\u201d of the ban on fireworks, which was never absolute.\nIn 2017, official data showed 444 cities had banned fireworks. Since then, some cities have scaled back curbs, allowing fireworks at certain times of the year and at designated venues.\nThis month, however, many counties rolled out notices prohibiting fireworks, rekindling discussion on the ban.\n\u201cWe\u2019ve the right to fireworks,\u201d wrote a user of Weibo, a popular Chinese microblog.\nAccording to folklore, the earliest fireworks were invented 2,000 years ago to drive away the nian, a mythical beast that preyed on people and livestock on the eve of the Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival.\nSince then, fireworks have been used to celebrate other occasions: this January, after three years of COVID-19 curbs were lifted, some people defied bans \u2014 and authorities \u2014 and set off firecrackers.\nBut some Chinese said the firework bans were necessary to protect the environment.\n\u201cIt should be regulated due to pollution and safety (fire) hazards,\u201d a Weibo user said.\nIn an online poll by the official Beijing Youth Daily this week, however, over 80% of respondents expressed support for fireworks during the Spring Festival, the most important holiday on the Chinese calendar.\nSome also said the ban was ironic after the United Nations last week adopted the Spring Festival as an official holiday, a move cheered by Chinese officials.\n\u201cThe Spring Festival belongs to the world, but China\u2019s is almost gone,\u201d wrote another Weibo user.\nIn southern Hunan province, a major fireworks manufacturing hub, exports totaled 4.11 billion yuan ($579 million) in January to November, state media reported, far exceeding domestic sales. \u2014 Reuters", "date_published": "2024-01-02T00:02:22+08:00", "date_modified": "2024-01-01T17:35:09+08:00", "authors": [ { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/cedadiantityclea/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/eda8ffc51ac7ec8b231b61b4c6a0d14e?s=512&d=mm&r=g" } ], "author": { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/cedadiantityclea/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/eda8ffc51ac7ec8b231b61b4c6a0d14e?s=512&d=mm&r=g" }, "image": "https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/AL-default.jpg", "tags": [ "fireworks", "Arts & Leisure" ] }, { "id": "https://www.bworldonline.com/?p=566131", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/arts-and-leisure/2024/01/02/566131/depardieu-accusations-of-sexual-harassment-expose-divide-in-france/", "title": "Depardieu accusations of sexual harassment expose divide in France", "content_html": "AN OPEN letter penned by dozens of actresses and other artists in defense of Gerard Depardieu, the cinema giant accused of sexual harassment, has laid bare divisions in France over the #Metoo reckoning with sexism.
\nActresses Nathalie Baye and Carole Bouquet \u2014 a former partner of Depardieu \u2014 as well as singer and former first lady Carla Bruni were among the more than 50 household cultural figures who called Depardieu the victim of a public \u201clynching.\u201d
\nEntitled \u2018Don\u2019t Cancel Gerard Depardieu,\u2019 the letter published this week in conservative daily Le Figaro alleged Mr. Depardieu had been the recipient of a \u201ctorrent of hatred.\u201d
\n\u201cWe can no longer remain silent in the face of the lynching that has descended upon him,\u201d the letter\u2019s authors wrote.
\n\u201cGerard Depardieu is probably the greatest of all actors. When you attack Gerard Depardieu like this, it is art you are attacking.\u201d
\nMr. Depardieu, 75, who has starred in scores of French-language movies, rising to prominence in 1974 with Going Places, has been at the center of a growing number of sexual assault allegations in recent years.
\nIn March, 2022, investigative magistrates placed Mr. Depardieu under formal investigation in one case on suspicion of rape and sexual assault. Actress Charlotte Arnould, 28, later revealed she was behind those accusations, saying she could not bear remaining silent any longer. Since then, more than ten women have accused Mr. Depardieu of sexual violence.
\nMr. Depardieu has consistently denied any wrongdoing and through his lawyers previously \u201cfirmly rejected\u201d the accusations against him.\u00a0
\n\u201cNever, absolutely never, have I abused a woman,\u201d he wrote in an Oct. 2 letter also published in Le Figaro. He has not been convicted of any of the accusations against him.
\nPresident Emmanuel Macron rallied to the defense of Mr. Depardieu shortly before Christmas, when asked in an interview about his culture minister\u2019s plans to review Mr. Depardieu\u2019s Legion d\u2019Honneur medal \u2014 France\u2019s highest decoration.
\nMr. Macron condemned the \u201cmanhunt\u201d against Mr. Depardieu without expressing sympathy for his alleged victims. \u201cHe\u2019s an immense actor, a genius of his art,\u201d Mr. Macron said. \u201cHe makes France proud.\u201d
\nGENERATIONAL DIVIDE
\nThe president\u2019s remarks and Monday\u2019s letter drew dismay from feminists and younger actresses who decry an attempt to drown out the voices of victims of sexual violence and undermine the #Metoo movement against sexual harassment in France.
\u201cThere\u2019s a generation that still doesn\u2019t understand this societal evolution,\u201d Murielle Reus, vice president of #MeTooMedia which campaigns against sexism and sexual misconduct in the media, said in a radio interview this week.
\nCritics of the #Metoo campaign in France accuse it of a puritanical fight fueled by a contempt for men and the art of seduction.
\nCatherine Deneuve, one of France\u2019s best-known actresses, was among 100 French women who in 2018 wrote a newspaper column accusing the #Metoo campaign of going too far.
\n\u201cWe defend a right to pester, which is vital to sexual freedom,\u201d they said.
\nEarlier this month, public broadcaster France 2 ran a documentary, Depardieu: The Fall of an Ogre, which showed the actor making lewd comments to women during a 2018 trip to North Korea and featured interviews with Arnould and another actress, Helene Darras, who in September filed a lawsuit against Mr. Depardieu alleging sexual assault.
\nBerenice Hamidi, a lecturer at the Lumiere Lyon 2 University said it was unsurprising the global #Metoo movement was born out of the US cinema industry, where she said livelihoods can be precarious and the boundaries of fact and fiction blurred.
\n\u201cThere is a real cultural exception in French cinema, which refuses to consider acts committed by artists as violence and to condemn them,\u201d Ms. Hamidi told franceinfo radio.
\nDepardieu told RTL radio he considered those who wrote this week\u2019s open letter to be \u201cvery courageous.\u201d \u2014 Reuters
\n", "content_text": "AN OPEN letter penned by dozens of actresses and other artists in defense of Gerard Depardieu, the cinema giant accused of sexual harassment, has laid bare divisions in France over the #Metoo reckoning with sexism.\nActresses Nathalie Baye and Carole Bouquet \u2014 a former partner of Depardieu \u2014 as well as singer and former first lady Carla Bruni were among the more than 50 household cultural figures who called Depardieu the victim of a public \u201clynching.\u201d\nEntitled \u2018Don\u2019t Cancel Gerard Depardieu,\u2019 the letter published this week in conservative daily Le Figaro alleged Mr. Depardieu had been the recipient of a \u201ctorrent of hatred.\u201d\n\u201cWe can no longer remain silent in the face of the lynching that has descended upon him,\u201d the letter\u2019s authors wrote.\n\u201cGerard Depardieu is probably the greatest of all actors. When you attack Gerard Depardieu like this, it is art you are attacking.\u201d\nMr. Depardieu, 75, who has starred in scores of French-language movies, rising to prominence in 1974 with Going Places, has been at the center of a growing number of sexual assault allegations in recent years.\nIn March, 2022, investigative magistrates placed Mr. Depardieu under formal investigation in one case on suspicion of rape and sexual assault. Actress Charlotte Arnould, 28, later revealed she was behind those accusations, saying she could not bear remaining silent any longer. Since then, more than ten women have accused Mr. Depardieu of sexual violence.\nMr. Depardieu has consistently denied any wrongdoing and through his lawyers previously \u201cfirmly rejected\u201d the accusations against him.\u00a0\n\u201cNever, absolutely never, have I abused a woman,\u201d he wrote in an Oct. 2 letter also published in Le Figaro. He has not been convicted of any of the accusations against him.\nPresident Emmanuel Macron rallied to the defense of Mr. Depardieu shortly before Christmas, when asked in an interview about his culture minister\u2019s plans to review Mr. Depardieu\u2019s Legion d\u2019Honneur medal \u2014 France\u2019s highest decoration.\nMr. Macron condemned the \u201cmanhunt\u201d against Mr. Depardieu without expressing sympathy for his alleged victims. \u201cHe\u2019s an immense actor, a genius of his art,\u201d Mr. Macron said. \u201cHe makes France proud.\u201d\nGENERATIONAL DIVIDE\nThe president\u2019s remarks and Monday\u2019s letter drew dismay from feminists and younger actresses who decry an attempt to drown out the voices of victims of sexual violence and undermine the #Metoo movement against sexual harassment in France.\n\u201cThere\u2019s a generation that still doesn\u2019t understand this societal evolution,\u201d Murielle Reus, vice president of #MeTooMedia which campaigns against sexism and sexual misconduct in the media, said in a radio interview this week.\nCritics of the #Metoo campaign in France accuse it of a puritanical fight fueled by a contempt for men and the art of seduction.\nCatherine Deneuve, one of France\u2019s best-known actresses, was among 100 French women who in 2018 wrote a newspaper column accusing the #Metoo campaign of going too far.\n\u201cWe defend a right to pester, which is vital to sexual freedom,\u201d they said.\nEarlier this month, public broadcaster France 2 ran a documentary, Depardieu: The Fall of an Ogre, which showed the actor making lewd comments to women during a 2018 trip to North Korea and featured interviews with Arnould and another actress, Helene Darras, who in September filed a lawsuit against Mr. Depardieu alleging sexual assault.\nBerenice Hamidi, a lecturer at the Lumiere Lyon 2 University said it was unsurprising the global #Metoo movement was born out of the US cinema industry, where she said livelihoods can be precarious and the boundaries of fact and fiction blurred.\n\u201cThere is a real cultural exception in French cinema, which refuses to consider acts committed by artists as violence and to condemn them,\u201d Ms. Hamidi told franceinfo radio.\nDepardieu told RTL radio he considered those who wrote this week\u2019s open letter to be \u201cvery courageous.\u201d \u2014 Reuters", "date_published": "2024-01-02T00:01:21+08:00", "date_modified": "2024-01-01T17:34:53+08:00", "authors": [ { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/cedadiantityclea/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/eda8ffc51ac7ec8b231b61b4c6a0d14e?s=512&d=mm&r=g" } ], "author": { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/cedadiantityclea/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/eda8ffc51ac7ec8b231b61b4c6a0d14e?s=512&d=mm&r=g" }, "image": "https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/AL-default.jpg", "tags": [ "sexual harassment", "Arts & Leisure" ] }, { "id": "https://www.bworldonline.com/?p=565840", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/arts-and-leisure/2023/12/29/565840/firefly-gomburza-are-the-big-winners-at-2023-mmff-awards/", "title": "Firefly, GomBurZa are the big winners at 2023 MMFF awards", "content_html": "ZIG DULAY\u2019s fantasy film Firefly, about a young boy\u2019s search for the mythical island of fireflies, was one of the night\u2019s two big winners in this year\u2019s Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF). It bagged the coveted Best Picture award.
\nMeanwhile, GomBurZa, a historical drama about the three Filipino Catholic martyred priests Mariano Gomez, Jos\u00e9 Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora, bagged the most awards, including Second Best Picture.
\nThe awarding ceremony was held at the New Frontier Theater in Quezon City on Dec. 27. It was also streamed on Facebook.
\nFirefly\u2019s other two awards were Best Screenplay for Angeli Atienza and Best Child Performer for Euwenn Mikaell.
\nThe film follows Tonton (played by Mr. Mikaell), who goes on a quest to find the island of fireflies that his mother Elay (played by Alessandra de Rossi) told him about in her bedtime stories.
\n\u201cInaalay namin ang pelikula sa lahat ng taong naniniwala sa kapangyarihan ng pangarap, kapangyarihan ng pag-ibig, at kapangyarihan ng sining (We dedicate this film to all those who believe in the power of dreams, the power of love, and the power of the arts),\u201d Firefly director Zig Dulay said in his Best Picture acceptance speech.
\nGomBurZa\u2019s six awards were Second Best Picture, Best Actor for Cedrick Juan, Best Director for Pepe Diokno, Best Cinematography for Carlo C. Mendoza, Best Production Design for Ericson Navarro, and the Gatpuno Antonio Villegas Cultural Award.
\nIn his acceptance speech, Mr. Juan dedicated his win to victims of injustice like the titular priests of GomBurZa.
\n\u201cInaalay ko po itong parangal na ito para sa lahat ng Pilipinong hindi nakakakuha ng tamang hustisya dahil, 152 years ago, ganoon po iyung nangyayari sa atin (I dedicate this award to all Filipinos who are not able to attain justice because, 152 years ago, that was what was happening to us),\u201d he said.
\n\u201cSana ay matuto tayo sa ating history, hindi dahil para baguhin ito kundi para matuto (I hope we can learn our history \u2013 not to revise it, but to learn from it).\u201d
\nThe Third Best Picture was Mallari, a horror film about the first Filipino serial killer Severino Mallari. It went home with an award for JC Santos as Best Supporting Actor, and awards for Best Visual Effects for Gaspar Mangarin and Best Score for Von de Guzman.
\nThe Fourth Best Picture was When I Met You in Tokyo, a romance between elderly overseas Filipino workers Azon (played by Vilma Santos) and Joey (played by Christopher de Leon) which is set in Tokyo. The film went home with an award for Ms. Santos as Best Actress, the Fernando Poe, Jr. Memorial Award for Excellence, and an award for Best Float.
\nThe 2023 MMFF jury was chaired by filmmaker Chito Ro\u00f1o with actress Lorna Tolentino as vice-chair.
\nThe 49th MMFF film screenings are ongoing nationwide until Jan. 7. \u2014 Bront\u00eb H. Lacsamana
\n\n
HERE is the full list of winners at the 2022 Metro Manila Film Festival awards night which was held on Dec. 27.
\nBest Picture: Firefly
\n2nd Best Picture: GomBurZa
\n3rd Best Picture: Mallari
\n4th Best Picture: When I Met You in Tokyo
\nBest Actress: Vilma Santos, When I Met You in Tokyo
\nBest Actor: Cedrick Juan, GomBurZa
\nBest Supporting Actor: JC Santos, Mallari
\nBest Supporting Actress: Miles Ocampo, Family of Two
\nBest Director: Pepe Diokno, GomBurZa
\nBest Screenplay: Angeli Atienza, Firefly
\nFernando Poe, Jr. Memorial Award for
\nExcellence: When I Met You in Tokyo
\nGatpuno Antonio Villegas Cultural Award: GomBurZa
\nMarichu Vera-Perez Maceda Memorial Award: Lily Monteverde
\nGender Sensitivity: Becky & Badette
\nBest Cinematography: Carlo Canlas Mendoza, GomBurZa
\nBest Editing: Benjamin Tolentino, K(Ampon)
\nBest Production Design: Ericson Navarro, GomBurZa
\nBest Visual Effects: Gaspar Mangarin, Mallari
\nBest Original Theme Song: \u201cFinggah Lickin,\u201d Becky & Badette
\nBest Score: Von de Guzman, Mallari
\nBest Sound: Melvin Q. Rivera and\u00a0 Louie Boy Bauson, GomBurZa
\nBest Child Performer: Euwenn Mikaell, Firefly
\nBest Float: When I Met You in Tokyo
\n", "content_text": "ZIG DULAY\u2019s fantasy film Firefly, about a young boy\u2019s search for the mythical island of fireflies, was one of the night\u2019s two big winners in this year\u2019s Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF). It bagged the coveted Best Picture award.\nMeanwhile, GomBurZa, a historical drama about the three Filipino Catholic martyred priests Mariano Gomez, Jos\u00e9 Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora, bagged the most awards, including Second Best Picture.\nThe awarding ceremony was held at the New Frontier Theater in Quezon City on Dec. 27. It was also streamed on Facebook.\nFirefly\u2019s other two awards were Best Screenplay for Angeli Atienza and Best Child Performer for Euwenn Mikaell.\nThe film follows Tonton (played by Mr. Mikaell), who goes on a quest to find the island of fireflies that his mother Elay (played by Alessandra de Rossi) told him about in her bedtime stories.\n\u201cInaalay namin ang pelikula sa lahat ng taong naniniwala sa kapangyarihan ng pangarap, kapangyarihan ng pag-ibig, at kapangyarihan ng sining (We dedicate this film to all those who believe in the power of dreams, the power of love, and the power of the arts),\u201d Firefly director Zig Dulay said in his Best Picture acceptance speech.\nGomBurZa\u2019s six awards were Second Best Picture, Best Actor for Cedrick Juan, Best Director for Pepe Diokno, Best Cinematography for Carlo C. Mendoza, Best Production Design for Ericson Navarro, and the Gatpuno Antonio Villegas Cultural Award.\nIn his acceptance speech, Mr. Juan dedicated his win to victims of injustice like the titular priests of GomBurZa.\n\u201cInaalay ko po itong parangal na ito para sa lahat ng Pilipinong hindi nakakakuha ng tamang hustisya dahil, 152 years ago, ganoon po iyung nangyayari sa atin (I dedicate this award to all Filipinos who are not able to attain justice because, 152 years ago, that was what was happening to us),\u201d he said.\n\u201cSana ay matuto tayo sa ating history, hindi dahil para baguhin ito kundi para matuto (I hope we can learn our history \u2013 not to revise it, but to learn from it).\u201d\nThe Third Best Picture was Mallari, a horror film about the first Filipino serial killer Severino Mallari. It went home with an award for JC Santos as Best Supporting Actor, and awards for Best Visual Effects for Gaspar Mangarin and Best Score for Von de Guzman.\nThe Fourth Best Picture was When I Met You in Tokyo, a romance between elderly overseas Filipino workers Azon (played by Vilma Santos) and Joey (played by Christopher de Leon) which is set in Tokyo. The film went home with an award for Ms. Santos as Best Actress, the Fernando Poe, Jr. Memorial Award for Excellence, and an award for Best Float.\nThe 2023 MMFF jury was chaired by filmmaker Chito Ro\u00f1o with actress Lorna Tolentino as vice-chair.\nThe 49th MMFF film screenings are ongoing nationwide until Jan. 7. \u2014 Bront\u00eb H. Lacsamana\n \n\nAnd the winner is\u2026\nHERE is the full list of winners at the 2022 Metro Manila Film Festival awards night which was held on Dec. 27.\nBest Picture: Firefly\n2nd Best Picture: GomBurZa\n3rd Best Picture: Mallari\n4th Best Picture: When I Met You in Tokyo\nBest Actress: Vilma Santos, When I Met You in Tokyo\nBest Actor: Cedrick Juan, GomBurZa\nBest Supporting Actor: JC Santos, Mallari\nBest Supporting Actress: Miles Ocampo, Family of Two\nBest Director: Pepe Diokno, GomBurZa\nBest Screenplay: Angeli Atienza, Firefly\nFernando Poe, Jr. Memorial Award for\nExcellence: When I Met You in Tokyo\nGatpuno Antonio Villegas Cultural Award: GomBurZa\nMarichu Vera-Perez Maceda Memorial Award: Lily Monteverde\nGender Sensitivity: Becky & Badette\nBest Cinematography: Carlo Canlas Mendoza, GomBurZa\nBest Editing: Benjamin Tolentino, K(Ampon)\nBest Production Design: Ericson Navarro, GomBurZa\nBest Visual Effects: Gaspar Mangarin, Mallari\nBest Original Theme Song: \u201cFinggah Lickin,\u201d Becky & Badette\nBest Score: Von de Guzman, Mallari\nBest Sound: Melvin Q. Rivera and\u00a0 Louie Boy Bauson, GomBurZa\nBest Child Performer: Euwenn Mikaell, Firefly\nBest Float: When I Met You in Tokyo", "date_published": "2023-12-29T00:09:32+08:00", "date_modified": "2023-12-28T17:53:29+08:00", "authors": [ { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/cedadiantityclea/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/eda8ffc51ac7ec8b231b61b4c6a0d14e?s=512&d=mm&r=g" } ], "author": { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/cedadiantityclea/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/eda8ffc51ac7ec8b231b61b4c6a0d14e?s=512&d=mm&r=g" }, "image": "https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Firefly-wins-Best-Picture.jpg", "tags": [ "Bront\u00eb H. Lacsamana", "Arts & Leisure", "Editors' Picks" ] }, { "id": "https://www.bworldonline.com/?p=565839", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/arts-and-leisure/2023/12/29/565839/metro-manila-film-festival-2023-major-talents-lift-tale-of-senior-love/", "title": "Metro Manila Film Festival 2023: Major talents lift tale of senior love", "content_html": "Movie Review
\nWhen I Met You in Tokyo
\nDirected by Conrado Peru and Rommel Penesa
\nMTRCB Rating: PG
By Joseph L. Garcia, Senior Reporter
\nI\u2019VE NEVER been a Vilmanian (Sharon Cuneta is my own showbiz sacred cow), but then, I\u2019ve never seen Vilma on the big screen. Any experiences I have had of Philippine cinema\u2019s \u201cStar for All Seasons\u201d were limited to late-night movies of hers shown on TV. If the lines outside the movie theater for When I Met You in Tokyo were any indication, Vilma Santos-Recto truly has a different pull.
\nThe audience, for example, was an interesting mix: all genders, all ages, all economic brackets. Some less fashionable people were up in front, but a chic mother and daughter pair (making Vilma\u2019s reach intergenerational) answered my question in the affirmative whether their spot was the back of the line for the Vilma movie (it was a long line, just to enter the cinema).
\nWhen I Met You in Tokyo pairs up Vilma Santos and longtime leading man Christopher de Leon, who have starred in more than 20 movies together beginning in the 1970s with Tag-ulan sa Tag-araw. Their most recent pairing was in Mano Po 3 in 2004.
\nThis new movie shows them as Filipino migrants in Japan, of advanced age. Ms. Santos plays Azon, a hotel cleaner, while Mr. De Leon plays Joey, slightly wealthier as a hands-on farm owner. Santos is an involuntary celibate, never having married at her age; while Mr. De Leon has been betrayed by his ex-wife, played by Gina Alajar. What a cast, by the way: veterans like Ms. Alajar, Tirso Cruz III, and Lotlot de Leon (De Leon\u2019s adopted daughter with former wife and Santos\u2019 box office rival \u201cSuperstar\u201d Nora Aunor) are all just side characters in this movie.
\nMs. Santos makes everything feel so real: I really felt like I was watching a beloved aunt, in her gestures and her speech patterns. What\u2019s more, despite their own advanced ages (Santos was born in 1953; De Leon was born in 1956 \u2014 you do the math), the pair can still bring a frisson of kilig to the audience: not just for the older ones, mind you, but even their younger seatmates.
\nAnd what a beautiful face, by the way: in the movie, Ms. Santos punches Mr. De Leon at their meet-cute, cries and cracks her voice, and speaks Japanese with a Filipino accent and yet still looks that good. Watching a scene with Ms. Santos talking with her mouth full and discussing rent and government dues, she still looks more beautiful than many women at least 20 years younger than her.
\nRomance blossoms between the pair, predictably so in this romantic comedy/drama, but in the hands of Ms. Santos and Mr. De Leon, teenybopper drivel becomes pure gold. But they\u2019re getting older, a plot point in the movie: Santos suffers from osteoarthritis, while De Leon has a heart ailment. I begin to think that as one ages, love perhaps becomes purer, regressing from the lusts of youth and ennobled by experience. We watch the pair grow more in love each day, slowed down by age. The bucolic surroundings of the outskirts of Tokyo add to the atmosphere, as well as the Apo Hiking Society\u2019s \u201cWhen I Met You\u201d (the movie\u2019s theme and part-namesake, sung by De Leon in a scene, and in a duet with Santos in the credits).
\n(Beware: Spoilers ahead!)
\nWith age and health as a plot point, it\u2019s inevitable that one of them dies. Mr. De Leon succumbs to his heart ailment after a peaceful evening in their garden. Followed by a camera, Ms. Santos prepares to go to bed, beckoning her husband to come, and after a search, finds him outside slowly dying. She cries for help in Japanese, and says his name, Joey, over and over. I cried. Not just moisture that had to be patted dry with a handkerchief, but full-on crying with snot-wiping. Another actress would not have elicited this effect (except perhaps Sharon), and frankly, would have been corny. Santos, however, arrests one with a teenage star\u2019s charm (as she had been) at the start of the movie. Backed up by skill, years of hard work, and solidified showbiz status, this charm pulls you to the very end of the film, making you feel very deeply for whoever she\u2019s playing.
\nBy all standards, the film should have been predictable and unexciting. In the hands of other actors, this would have been filler. In the hands of Mr. De Leon, and especially Ms. Santos, the film reaches a higher standard. Not only are we watching a necessary story about senior love, it\u2019s another hit to add to Ms. Santos\u2019 roster. We\u2019ll watch a few more Vilma Santos movies to get more insight about her work, but consider me a convert.
\n", "content_text": "Movie Review\nWhen I Met You in Tokyo\nDirected by Conrado Peru and Rommel Penesa\nMTRCB Rating: PG\nBy Joseph L. Garcia, Senior Reporter\nI\u2019VE NEVER been a Vilmanian (Sharon Cuneta is my own showbiz sacred cow), but then, I\u2019ve never seen Vilma on the big screen. Any experiences I have had of Philippine cinema\u2019s \u201cStar for All Seasons\u201d were limited to late-night movies of hers shown on TV. If the lines outside the movie theater for When I Met You in Tokyo were any indication, Vilma Santos-Recto truly has a different pull.\nThe audience, for example, was an interesting mix: all genders, all ages, all economic brackets. Some less fashionable people were up in front, but a chic mother and daughter pair (making Vilma\u2019s reach intergenerational) answered my question in the affirmative whether their spot was the back of the line for the Vilma movie (it was a long line, just to enter the cinema).\nWhen I Met You in Tokyo pairs up Vilma Santos and longtime leading man Christopher de Leon, who have starred in more than 20 movies together beginning in the 1970s with Tag-ulan sa Tag-araw. Their most recent pairing was in Mano Po 3 in 2004.\nThis new movie shows them as Filipino migrants in Japan, of advanced age. Ms. Santos plays Azon, a hotel cleaner, while Mr. De Leon plays Joey, slightly wealthier as a hands-on farm owner. Santos is an involuntary celibate, never having married at her age; while Mr. De Leon has been betrayed by his ex-wife, played by Gina Alajar. What a cast, by the way: veterans like Ms. Alajar, Tirso Cruz III, and Lotlot de Leon (De Leon\u2019s adopted daughter with former wife and Santos\u2019 box office rival \u201cSuperstar\u201d Nora Aunor) are all just side characters in this movie.\nMs. Santos makes everything feel so real: I really felt like I was watching a beloved aunt, in her gestures and her speech patterns. What\u2019s more, despite their own advanced ages (Santos was born in 1953; De Leon was born in 1956 \u2014 you do the math), the pair can still bring a frisson of kilig to the audience: not just for the older ones, mind you, but even their younger seatmates.\nAnd what a beautiful face, by the way: in the movie, Ms. Santos punches Mr. De Leon at their meet-cute, cries and cracks her voice, and speaks Japanese with a Filipino accent and yet still looks that good. Watching a scene with Ms. Santos talking with her mouth full and discussing rent and government dues, she still looks more beautiful than many women at least 20 years younger than her.\nRomance blossoms between the pair, predictably so in this romantic comedy/drama, but in the hands of Ms. Santos and Mr. De Leon, teenybopper drivel becomes pure gold. But they\u2019re getting older, a plot point in the movie: Santos suffers from osteoarthritis, while De Leon has a heart ailment. I begin to think that as one ages, love perhaps becomes purer, regressing from the lusts of youth and ennobled by experience. We watch the pair grow more in love each day, slowed down by age. The bucolic surroundings of the outskirts of Tokyo add to the atmosphere, as well as the Apo Hiking Society\u2019s \u201cWhen I Met You\u201d (the movie\u2019s theme and part-namesake, sung by De Leon in a scene, and in a duet with Santos in the credits).\n(Beware: Spoilers ahead!)\nWith age and health as a plot point, it\u2019s inevitable that one of them dies. Mr. De Leon succumbs to his heart ailment after a peaceful evening in their garden. Followed by a camera, Ms. Santos prepares to go to bed, beckoning her husband to come, and after a search, finds him outside slowly dying. She cries for help in Japanese, and says his name, Joey, over and over. I cried. Not just moisture that had to be patted dry with a handkerchief, but full-on crying with snot-wiping. Another actress would not have elicited this effect (except perhaps Sharon), and frankly, would have been corny. Santos, however, arrests one with a teenage star\u2019s charm (as she had been) at the start of the movie. Backed up by skill, years of hard work, and solidified showbiz status, this charm pulls you to the very end of the film, making you feel very deeply for whoever she\u2019s playing.\nBy all standards, the film should have been predictable and unexciting. In the hands of other actors, this would have been filler. In the hands of Mr. De Leon, and especially Ms. Santos, the film reaches a higher standard. Not only are we watching a necessary story about senior love, it\u2019s another hit to add to Ms. Santos\u2019 roster. We\u2019ll watch a few more Vilma Santos movies to get more insight about her work, but consider me a convert.", "date_published": "2023-12-29T00:08:31+08:00", "date_modified": "2023-12-28T17:49:02+08:00", "authors": [ { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/cedadiantityclea/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/eda8ffc51ac7ec8b231b61b4c6a0d14e?s=512&d=mm&r=g" } ], "author": { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/cedadiantityclea/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/eda8ffc51ac7ec8b231b61b4c6a0d14e?s=512&d=mm&r=g" }, "image": "https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/When-I-Met-You-in-Tokyo.jpg", "tags": [ "Joseph L. Garcia", "Arts & Leisure", "Editors' Picks" ], "summary": "I\u2019VE NEVER been a Vilmanian (Sharon Cuneta is my own showbiz sacred cow), but then, I\u2019ve never seen Vilma on the big screen. Any experiences I have had of Philippine cinema\u2019s \u201cStar for All Seasons\u201d were limited to late-night movies of hers shown on TV. If the lines outside the movie theater for When I Met You in Tokyo were any indication, Vilma Santos-Recto truly has a different pull." }, { "id": "https://www.bworldonline.com/?p=565838", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/arts-and-leisure/2023/12/29/565838/metro-manila-film-festival-2023-camp-comedy-cinema/", "title": "Metro Manila Film Festival 2023: Camp, comedy, cinema", "content_html": "Movie Review
\nBecky and Badette
\nDirected by Jun Robles Lana
\nMTRCB Rating: PG
By Bront\u00eb H. Lacsamana, Reporter
\nTHERE is no doubt that Jun Robles Lana is a master of camp and comedy. His latest film Becky and Badette, which follows the antics of best friends Becky Naman (played by Eugene Domingo) and Badette Imaculada (Pokwang), is hilarious.
\nThe two leads are already known comediennes, but never have they been given such great material to work on together. As the titular duo, they knock it out of the park with Vilma Santos imitations, double entendres, and quick-witted pop culture-related humor.
\nIt starts off with them as cleaners and informal chicken vendors at a high-rise building, their dream to be music or TV stars simply unreachable. Then, they attend a high school reunion organized by their batchmate, ad agency executive Nirvana Batungbakal (played by Agot Isidro in all her snooty, bitchy glory). There, the two come face to face with their failures and drunkenly make up stories to get attention \u2014 by claiming that they are a lesbian couple.
\nNaturally, their antics are filmed (complete with the two tearfully singing Becky\u2019s chicken-themed song \u201cFinggah-Lickin\u2019\u201d) and the video is uploaded online, instantly going viral. Their whirlwind journey begins, turning them into hitmaking and TV-starring lesbian celebrities almost overnight.
\nThey promise to come clean to the public that fell in love with their \u201ccoming out\u201d video, but when aspiring musician Becky gets an offer to make an album and aspiring actress Badette lands a lead role in a TV show, telling the truth quickly becomes less of a priority. The failures in life, suddenly faced with success, dig themselves into a deeper hole by leaning into the lie.
\nOf course, the film acknowledges this behavior is problematic. Becky and Badette\u2019s gay friend tells them he is \u201csomewhat bothered\u201d by what they\u2019ve done and the two do feel guilty. But the way they still make one dumb decision after another, leading into a downward spiral of dishonesty, is hilarious.
\nIt is this year\u2019s standout, providing a one-two punch of camp and comedy, of Ms. Domingo and Pokwang, of outlandish costumes and bright color palettes. This writer watched in a theater that erupted in laughter the entire time, both the LGBTQ+ and the straights in the crowd.
\nRomnick Sarmienta was enthralling as the heartthrob that nearly tears their friendship and their elaborate lie apart, Pepe Feniz (yes, the name made people chuckle every time it was mentioned). However, the whole schtick about Becky and Badette trying to discreetly pine for and pursue him gets old pretty fast, taking time away from the actual plot.
\nWhile emotional beats wane a bit here and there in service of laughs, which is a shame since the film tackles worthwhile topics like fame, friendship, and queerbaiting, you gotta applaud the comedy gold in this \u2014 that catchy finggah lickin\u2019 song (which the MMFF awarded Best Original Theme Song), the well-placed nail cutter joke, the insensitive oyster bar ad campaign, the reference to 2022 film Triangle of Sadness! There is just lots to laugh about, which means this comedy did its job.
\nAs a distinctly Filipino form or absurdist comedy, it seemingly never runs out of fun scenarios. The musical numbers are a joy to watch, with good camera work by Kara Moreno and deliciously colorful production design by Jaylo Conanan. But mostly, it is carried by the star power and talent of its two leads.
\n", "content_text": "Movie Review\nBecky and Badette\nDirected by Jun Robles Lana\nMTRCB Rating: PG\nBy Bront\u00eb H. Lacsamana, Reporter \nTHERE is no doubt that Jun Robles Lana is a master of camp and comedy. His latest film Becky and Badette, which follows the antics of best friends Becky Naman (played by Eugene Domingo) and Badette Imaculada (Pokwang), is hilarious.\nThe two leads are already known comediennes, but never have they been given such great material to work on together. As the titular duo, they knock it out of the park with Vilma Santos imitations, double entendres, and quick-witted pop culture-related humor.\nIt starts off with them as cleaners and informal chicken vendors at a high-rise building, their dream to be music or TV stars simply unreachable. Then, they attend a high school reunion organized by their batchmate, ad agency executive Nirvana Batungbakal (played by Agot Isidro in all her snooty, bitchy glory). There, the two come face to face with their failures and drunkenly make up stories to get attention \u2014 by claiming that they are a lesbian couple.\nNaturally, their antics are filmed (complete with the two tearfully singing Becky\u2019s chicken-themed song \u201cFinggah-Lickin\u2019\u201d) and the video is uploaded online, instantly going viral. Their whirlwind journey begins, turning them into hitmaking and TV-starring lesbian celebrities almost overnight. \nThey promise to come clean to the public that fell in love with their \u201ccoming out\u201d video, but when aspiring musician Becky gets an offer to make an album and aspiring actress Badette lands a lead role in a TV show, telling the truth quickly becomes less of a priority. The failures in life, suddenly faced with success, dig themselves into a deeper hole by leaning into the lie.\nOf course, the film acknowledges this behavior is problematic. Becky and Badette\u2019s gay friend tells them he is \u201csomewhat bothered\u201d by what they\u2019ve done and the two do feel guilty. But the way they still make one dumb decision after another, leading into a downward spiral of dishonesty, is hilarious.\nIt is this year\u2019s standout, providing a one-two punch of camp and comedy, of Ms. Domingo and Pokwang, of outlandish costumes and bright color palettes. This writer watched in a theater that erupted in laughter the entire time, both the LGBTQ+ and the straights in the crowd.\nRomnick Sarmienta was enthralling as the heartthrob that nearly tears their friendship and their elaborate lie apart, Pepe Feniz (yes, the name made people chuckle every time it was mentioned). However, the whole schtick about Becky and Badette trying to discreetly pine for and pursue him gets old pretty fast, taking time away from the actual plot.\nWhile emotional beats wane a bit here and there in service of laughs, which is a shame since the film tackles worthwhile topics like fame, friendship, and queerbaiting, you gotta applaud the comedy gold in this \u2014 that catchy finggah lickin\u2019 song (which the MMFF awarded Best Original Theme Song), the well-placed nail cutter joke, the insensitive oyster bar ad campaign, the reference to 2022 film Triangle of Sadness! There is just lots to laugh about, which means this comedy did its job.\nAs a distinctly Filipino form or absurdist comedy, it seemingly never runs out of fun scenarios. The musical numbers are a joy to watch, with good camera work by Kara Moreno and deliciously colorful production design by Jaylo Conanan. But mostly, it is carried by the star power and talent of its two leads.", "date_published": "2023-12-29T00:07:29+08:00", "date_modified": "2023-12-28T17:48:05+08:00", "authors": [ { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/cedadiantityclea/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/eda8ffc51ac7ec8b231b61b4c6a0d14e?s=512&d=mm&r=g" } ], "author": { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/cedadiantityclea/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/eda8ffc51ac7ec8b231b61b4c6a0d14e?s=512&d=mm&r=g" }, "image": "https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Becky-and-Badette.jpg", "tags": [ "Bront\u00eb H. Lacsamana", "Arts & Leisure", "Editors' Picks" ], "summary": "THERE is no doubt that Jun Robles Lana is a master of camp and comedy. His latest film Becky and Badette, which follows the antics of best friends Becky Naman (played by Eugene Domingo) and Badette Imaculada (Pokwang), is hilarious." }, { "id": "https://www.bworldonline.com/?p=565837", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/arts-and-leisure/2023/12/29/565837/metro-manila-film-festival-2023-over-the-top-tearjerker/", "title": "Metro Manila Film Festival 2023: Over-the-top tearjerker", "content_html": "Movie Review
\nFamily of Two
\n(A Mother and Son\u2019s Story)
\nDirected by Nuel C. Naval
\nMTRCB Rating: PG
AS AN HOMAGE to all mothers, Family of Two depicts a love between a clingy mother and her equally clingy son.
\nThe film has a heartwarming premise \u2014 selfless woman Maricar (played by Sharon Cuneta) dedicates all her time to her devoted son Mateo (played by Alden Richards), whom she raised singlehandedly. However, this codependent set-up is not forever, as Mateo is presented with a chance to go abroad where his girlfriend is also working.
\nThis is when he decides to sign his mother up for a dating site, so that she can find happiness outside of motherhood.
\nBoth leads play their parts as expected, with cheesy and exaggerated exchanges of dialogue between them. Ms. Cuneta hits all the dramatic notes required of a seemingly cheerful, doting mother while Mr. Richards is his usual pretty boy self, either smiling with dimples or shedding some tears.
\nThe role of Mateo\u2019s girlfriend Zari, brought to life by Miles Ocampo, is not very memorable, in large part due to the lack of chemistry between the two actors. While she did win a Best Supporting Actress award for it, Ms. Ocampo\u2019s charm has definitely shone through more in other projects.
\nIt is the mother and son\u2019s journey that is the focus, although it is depicted in a frustratingly formulaic way. Codependency is a situation where actions tend to speak louder than words, but this film really went the wordy, teary, drama-filled route to depict it.
\nMaricar packing her son\u2019s lunches for him every morning and staying up to wait for him to come home at night were already poignant enough scenes. But no, there had to be cute, MMK-level banter the entire time, and overreactions where they endlessly cried to each other.
\nTime and time again Filipino family dramas have resorted to a saccharine approach that doubles down on the over-the-top tearjerker scenes set to an obnoxiously touching score. This film didn\u2019t need all the crying. Since the conflict wasn\u2019t too serious, it could have been a nice, natural slice-of-life story.
\nFamily of Two\u2019s most promising underused plot point comes near the end, where Maricar realizes she wants to go back to school to finish her college degree. A certain speech she makes related to that was probably the most beautiful moment in the entire film, and is not the typical, crying, cliche.
\nWhile it does earn plus points for advocating letting people past their prime pursue their education, it\u2019s a damn shame that it only felt like a footnote in the story. Maricar deciding to go back to school with the support of her son would have made for a more memorable movie, without all the tearjerker shenanigans, and it would have been better material for the two leads to work with. \u2014 Bront\u00eb H. Lacsamana
\n", "content_text": "Movie Review\nFamily of Two\n(A Mother and Son\u2019s Story)\nDirected by Nuel C. Naval\nMTRCB Rating: PG\nAS AN HOMAGE to all mothers, Family of Two depicts a love between a clingy mother and her equally clingy son.\nThe film has a heartwarming premise \u2014 selfless woman Maricar (played by Sharon Cuneta) dedicates all her time to her devoted son Mateo (played by Alden Richards), whom she raised singlehandedly. However, this codependent set-up is not forever, as Mateo is presented with a chance to go abroad where his girlfriend is also working.\nThis is when he decides to sign his mother up for a dating site, so that she can find happiness outside of motherhood.\nBoth leads play their parts as expected, with cheesy and exaggerated exchanges of dialogue between them. Ms. Cuneta hits all the dramatic notes required of a seemingly cheerful, doting mother while Mr. Richards is his usual pretty boy self, either smiling with dimples or shedding some tears.\nThe role of Mateo\u2019s girlfriend Zari, brought to life by Miles Ocampo, is not very memorable, in large part due to the lack of chemistry between the two actors. While she did win a Best Supporting Actress award for it, Ms. Ocampo\u2019s charm has definitely shone through more in other projects.\nIt is the mother and son\u2019s journey that is the focus, although it is depicted in a frustratingly formulaic way. Codependency is a situation where actions tend to speak louder than words, but this film really went the wordy, teary, drama-filled route to depict it.\nMaricar packing her son\u2019s lunches for him every morning and staying up to wait for him to come home at night were already poignant enough scenes. But no, there had to be cute, MMK-level banter the entire time, and overreactions where they endlessly cried to each other.\nTime and time again Filipino family dramas have resorted to a saccharine approach that doubles down on the over-the-top tearjerker scenes set to an obnoxiously touching score. This film didn\u2019t need all the crying. Since the conflict wasn\u2019t too serious, it could have been a nice, natural slice-of-life story.\nFamily of Two\u2019s most promising underused plot point comes near the end, where Maricar realizes she wants to go back to school to finish her college degree. A certain speech she makes related to that was probably the most beautiful moment in the entire film, and is not the typical, crying, cliche.\nWhile it does earn plus points for advocating letting people past their prime pursue their education, it\u2019s a damn shame that it only felt like a footnote in the story. Maricar deciding to go back to school with the support of her son would have made for a more memorable movie, without all the tearjerker shenanigans, and it would have been better material for the two leads to work with. \u2014 Bront\u00eb H. Lacsamana", "date_published": "2023-12-29T00:06:28+08:00", "date_modified": "2023-12-28T17:46:03+08:00", "authors": [ { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/cedadiantityclea/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/eda8ffc51ac7ec8b231b61b4c6a0d14e?s=512&d=mm&r=g" } ], "author": { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/cedadiantityclea/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/eda8ffc51ac7ec8b231b61b4c6a0d14e?s=512&d=mm&r=g" }, "image": "https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Family-of-Two.jpg", "tags": [ "Bront\u00eb H. Lacsamana", "Arts & Leisure" ], "summary": "AS AN HOMAGE to all mothers, Family of Two depicts a love between a clingy mother and her equally clingy son." }, { "id": "https://www.bworldonline.com/?p=565836", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/arts-and-leisure/2023/12/29/565836/theater-stalwart-arete-artistic-director-ricardo-g-abad-77/", "title": "Theater stalwart, Aret\u00e9 artistic director Ricardo G. Abad, 77", "content_html": "\n
RICARDO \u201cRICKY\u201d G. ABAD, a theater director, actor, teacher, and sociologist, died on Tuesday, Dec. 26. He was 77.
\nAret\u00e9, the creative hub of the Ateneo De Manila University (ADMU), posted a short tribute for their artistic director on Facebook a day after his death.
\n\u201cDr. Abad was the spirit behind Aret\u00e9\u2019s development as a cultural institution, devising its artistic programs and presentations. He conceptualized and directed shows like the Noel Concert series, the staging and online release of 2Bayani The Musical, and the Sari-sari pocket presentations to name a few,\u201d the post said.
\nAs a professor emeritus of ADMU, Mr. Abad contributed to the growth of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology and the Department of Fine Arts.
\nIn the late 1990s, he was part of a committee convened to propose a university program with fields of study drawn from Ateneo\u2019s rich artistic tradition. That program would become the Department of Fine Arts (FA), where Mr. Abad served as founding director from 2000 to 2003.
\n\u201cFor us that are a part of the FA community \u2014 past and current students, faculty, and staff \u2014 Dr. Abad\u2019s greatest seed planted and cultivated was what we\u2019ve become and aspire to be: a community of educators, artists, authors, performers, and professionals committed to nurturing contextualized and critical practices in the artistic disciplines our programs represent,\u201d the Ateneo Fine Arts Department said in a Facebook post.
\nTheater group Tanghalang Ateneo also paid homage to Mr. Abad, acknowledging his role in mentoring some of the best talents working across many professions and fields, particularly, in theater, film, and TV.
\n\u201cWe remember him fondly for his passion, humor, and lust for life, and for shaping Tanghalang Ateneo, and the Loyola School\u2019s theater tradition, into what it is known for today: courageous and forward-thinking artistry, uncompromising discipline, and intellectual rigor,\u201d it said.
\nThe Philippine Sociological Society, where he had served as president and editor of the Philippine Sociological Review, highlighted his contributions to the field in a Facebook post. \u201cHis research covered a diverse range of topics including poverty and inequality, demography, migration, values, social capital, and religion, He was a recognized expert on survey research methods. A beloved teacher and mentor, Dr. Abad was a recipient of the prestigious Metrobank Outstanding Teacher Award.\u201d
\nChoreographer and director Dexter M. Santos posted on Facebook his own tribute to the late master. He spoke to Mr. Abad\u2019s \u201ccommitment and pure love for the theater.\u201d
\n\u201cHe didn\u2019t need to mentor all those TA kids. He was a more than accomplished and celebrated Doctor of Sociology,\u201d Mr. Santos said. \u201cPero sobrang mahal niya ang Teatro, mahal niya ang pagtuturo (But he loved theater so much, and he loved teaching).\u201d \u2014 Bront\u00eb H. Lacsamana
\n", "content_text": "RICARDO \u201cRICKY\u201d G. ABAD, a theater director, actor, teacher, and sociologist, died on Tuesday, Dec. 26. He was 77.\nAret\u00e9, the creative hub of the Ateneo De Manila University (ADMU), posted a short tribute for their artistic director on Facebook a day after his death.\n\u201cDr. Abad was the spirit behind Aret\u00e9\u2019s development as a cultural institution, devising its artistic programs and presentations. He conceptualized and directed shows like the Noel Concert series, the staging and online release of 2Bayani The Musical, and the Sari-sari pocket presentations to name a few,\u201d the post said.\nAs a professor emeritus of ADMU, Mr. Abad contributed to the growth of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology and the Department of Fine Arts.\nIn the late 1990s, he was part of a committee convened to propose a university program with fields of study drawn from Ateneo\u2019s rich artistic tradition. That program would become the Department of Fine Arts (FA), where Mr. Abad served as founding director from 2000 to 2003.\n\u201cFor us that are a part of the FA community \u2014 past and current students, faculty, and staff \u2014 Dr. Abad\u2019s greatest seed planted and cultivated was what we\u2019ve become and aspire to be: a community of educators, artists, authors, performers, and professionals committed to nurturing contextualized and critical practices in the artistic disciplines our programs represent,\u201d the Ateneo Fine Arts Department said in a Facebook post.\nTheater group Tanghalang Ateneo also paid homage to Mr. Abad, acknowledging his role in mentoring some of the best talents working across many professions and fields, particularly, in theater, film, and TV. \n\u201cWe remember him fondly for his passion, humor, and lust for life, and for shaping Tanghalang Ateneo, and the Loyola School\u2019s theater tradition, into what it is known for today: courageous and forward-thinking artistry, uncompromising discipline, and intellectual rigor,\u201d it said.\nThe Philippine Sociological Society, where he had served as president and editor of the Philippine Sociological Review, highlighted his contributions to the field in a Facebook post. \u201cHis research covered a diverse range of topics including poverty and inequality, demography, migration, values, social capital, and religion, He was a recognized expert on survey research methods. A beloved teacher and mentor, Dr. Abad was a recipient of the prestigious Metrobank Outstanding Teacher Award.\u201d\nChoreographer and director Dexter M. Santos posted on Facebook his own tribute to the late master. He spoke to Mr. Abad\u2019s \u201ccommitment and pure love for the theater.\u201d\n\u201cHe didn\u2019t need to mentor all those TA kids. He was a more than accomplished and celebrated Doctor of Sociology,\u201d Mr. Santos said. \u201cPero sobrang mahal niya ang Teatro, mahal niya ang pagtuturo (But he loved theater so much, and he loved teaching).\u201d \u2014 Bront\u00eb H. Lacsamana", "date_published": "2023-12-29T00:05:27+08:00", "date_modified": "2023-12-28T17:44:59+08:00", "authors": [ { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/cedadiantityclea/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/eda8ffc51ac7ec8b231b61b4c6a0d14e?s=512&d=mm&r=g" } ], "author": { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/cedadiantityclea/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/eda8ffc51ac7ec8b231b61b4c6a0d14e?s=512&d=mm&r=g" }, "image": "https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Ricardo-G.-Abad.jpg", "tags": [ "Bront\u00eb H. Lacsamana", "Arts & Leisure" ] }, { "id": "https://www.bworldonline.com/?p=565813", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/arts-and-leisure/2023/12/29/565813/where-to-go-for-new-years-eve-dinner/", "title": "Where to go for New Year\u2019s Eve dinner", "content_html": "SURELY it\u2019s good luck to greet the New Year with a full stomach. We\u2019ve got options around the city which will bust your bellies and belts in time for 2024.
\nCROWNE PLAZA
\nAt the hotel\u2019s 7 Corners buffet (we recommend the steak), there will be buffet dinners on New Year\u2019s Eve and New Year\u2019s Day. The Dec. 31 dinner is priced at P3,500 net and will be available from 6 to 10 p.m. The Jan. 1 dinner will be priced the same and will be available at the same schedule. For reservations, call 0916-631-7523 or e-mail fandb.reservations@ihg.com.
\nCONRAD MANILA
\nConrad Manila\u2019s buffet feasts at Brasserie on 3 will run until New Year\u2019s Eve. In these last days of 2023, Brasserie on 3\u2019s buffet offerings will cost P2,650 and P3,050 net for weekday lunch and dinner, while the Friday and Saturday dinner buffet will cost P3,450 net per person. The New Year\u2019s Eve Lunch Buffet will be offered at P3,250 net per person. At the C Lounge, the hotel will have a New Year \u201980s Countdown Party, with an entrance fee of P1,988++ per person, but a discounted price of P1,688++ for in-house and dining guests. The price is inclusive of sparkling wine or non-alcoholic beverages. For reservations, call 0917-650-3747 or 0917-650-3591.
\nCITY OF DREAMS MANILA
\nA countdown event and indulgent year-end menus beckon at City of Dreams for year-end festivities. At DreamPlay, DreamWorks movie characters from Shrek, Kung Fu Panda, Puss in Boots, Madagascar, and Trolls are bringing the holiday cheer with an all-star parade at 5:30 p.m. on New Year\u2019s Day at The Shops at the Boulevard. In the spirit of holiday gift-giving, guests checked in between Dec. 20 to Jan. 1 at N\u00fcwa Manila, Nobu Hotel, and Hyatt Regency Manila will receive a bottle of wine. The holiday welcome amenity is available for bookings made via direct channels and on applicable Best Available rates, or Rack rates. Terms and conditions apply.
\nAt CenterPlay, City of Dreams Manila revs up its entertainment scene as it throws a year-end countdown party with live music performances from 6 p.m. up to 2 a.m. from local artists Eye Candies, DJ Lena, and Part 3 band. Revelers can reserve a seat or a table starting at P2,500, inclusive of a glass of prosecco and plated holiday treats and P1,500 worth of food and drink from the regular menu. Prices vary depending on seat location, the number of persons, and consumables. Meanwhile, Crystal Dragon continues to offer its holiday menu. Available from lunch onwards until Jan. 1, the a la carte menu includes Braised Sea Treasure Broth with Alaskan King Crab, Fish Maw and Chinese Ham, Oven-baked Chicken filled with black truffle paste and foie gras; Wok-fried Prawns in homemade cheese sauce and crispy enoki mushrooms; Flaming Wagyu Beef \u2014 Sichuan Style with king oyster mushrooms; and Chilled Sweetened Honeydew with soymilk jelly, homemade vanilla ice cream and pearl sago.
\nAt Nobu Manila, there\u2019s a special seven-course dinner tasting menu offered only on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1. Available for P5600++ per person, it starts with an amuse-bouche compliments of the chef, followed by scallops with anchovy salsa and grilled vegetables, and Assorted Sushi and Inaniwa Noodle Soup with rolled beef and asparagus. Salmon Apple with ponzu, extra virgin olive oil, wasabi salsa, chives, and garlic chips follows this; then Ika (squid) Salad with spicy lemon dressing, kelp salad roll, vegetable salsa, asparagus and yamagobo (pickled burdock root); King Prawn with shitake butter and seasonal vegetables; and Wagyu Short Ribs Nabeyaki with sake, soy, and mirin reduction, udon noodles, bok choy, and tofu come after. A dessert of Passion Fruit Mousse with flourless peanut caramel and crunchy peanuts concludes the meal.
\nDiners looking for an indulgent brunch can opt for unlimited helpings of Nobu-style dishes at the restaurant\u2019s New Year Sunday brunch on Dec. 31. A hybrid of a la carte and buffet, it highlights whole tuna, and chilled seafood such as oysters, blue crab, and slipper lobsters. Whole rib roast and wagyu brisket served with mushroom wasabi pepper sauce and creamy wasabi, and wagyu striploin au jus are the brunch\u2019s pi\u00e8ce de resistance along with Nobu signature sashimi. Special ala carte choices, a ramen bar, a kushiyaki station, salads, and a wide array of desserts complete the new year\u2019s brunch spread, at P4,388 net per person.
\nCity of Dreams Manila\u2019s modern Filipino restaurant Haliya welcomes the year with its Bagong Taon a la carte menu available on Dec. 31 from lunch onwards and for dinner on Jan. 1. This menu includes Bringhe de Bola with prawns, capsicum, tomato chutney and cheese sauce and Chicken and Tomato Consomm\u00e9 with 62-degree egg, charred onion oil, cherry tomato, bread and bone marrow butter, red chili finger, and micro greens. Beef Callos with chorizo, beef tripe adobo, Brussels sprouts, green olives, chickpeas, shallot confit, green peas, and potato truffle is a hefty entry. For dessert, the restaurant offers its innovative take on Filipino desserts with its version of Pastillas de Taro Parfait, with taro pastillas, ube and kesong puti pinwheel, cathedral window balls, crispy champorado and muscovado crumble.
\nFor inquiries and reservations, call 8800-8080 or e-mail guestservices@cod-manila.com. For more information, visit www.cityofdreamsmanila.com.
\n", "content_text": "SURELY it\u2019s good luck to greet the New Year with a full stomach. We\u2019ve got options around the city which will bust your bellies and belts in time for 2024.\nCROWNE PLAZA\nAt the hotel\u2019s 7 Corners buffet (we recommend the steak), there will be buffet dinners on New Year\u2019s Eve and New Year\u2019s Day. The Dec. 31 dinner is priced at P3,500 net and will be available from 6 to 10 p.m. The Jan. 1 dinner will be priced the same and will be available at the same schedule. For reservations, call 0916-631-7523 or e-mail fandb.reservations@ihg.com.\nCONRAD MANILA\nConrad Manila\u2019s buffet feasts at Brasserie on 3 will run until New Year\u2019s Eve. In these last days of 2023, Brasserie on 3\u2019s buffet offerings will cost P2,650 and P3,050 net for weekday lunch and dinner, while the Friday and Saturday dinner buffet will cost P3,450 net per person. The New Year\u2019s Eve Lunch Buffet will be offered at P3,250 net per person. At the C Lounge, the hotel will have a New Year \u201980s Countdown Party, with an entrance fee of P1,988++ per person, but a discounted price of P1,688++ for in-house and dining guests. The price is inclusive of sparkling wine or non-alcoholic beverages. For reservations, call 0917-650-3747 or 0917-650-3591.\nCITY OF DREAMS MANILA\nA countdown event and indulgent year-end menus beckon at City of Dreams for year-end festivities. At DreamPlay, DreamWorks movie characters from Shrek, Kung Fu Panda, Puss in Boots, Madagascar, and Trolls are bringing the holiday cheer with an all-star parade at 5:30 p.m. on New Year\u2019s Day at The Shops at the Boulevard. In the spirit of holiday gift-giving, guests checked in between Dec. 20 to Jan. 1 at N\u00fcwa Manila, Nobu Hotel, and Hyatt Regency Manila will receive a bottle of wine. The holiday welcome amenity is available for bookings made via direct channels and on applicable Best Available rates, or Rack rates. Terms and conditions apply.\nAt CenterPlay, City of Dreams Manila revs up its entertainment scene as it throws a year-end countdown party with live music performances from 6 p.m. up to 2 a.m. from local artists Eye Candies, DJ Lena, and Part 3 band. Revelers can reserve a seat or a table starting at P2,500, inclusive of a glass of prosecco and plated holiday treats and P1,500 worth of food and drink from the regular menu. Prices vary depending on seat location, the number of persons, and consumables. Meanwhile, Crystal Dragon continues to offer its holiday menu. Available from lunch onwards until Jan. 1, the a la carte menu includes Braised Sea Treasure Broth with Alaskan King Crab, Fish Maw and Chinese Ham, Oven-baked Chicken filled with black truffle paste and foie gras; Wok-fried Prawns in homemade cheese sauce and crispy enoki mushrooms; Flaming Wagyu Beef \u2014 Sichuan Style with king oyster mushrooms; and Chilled Sweetened Honeydew with soymilk jelly, homemade vanilla ice cream and pearl sago.\nAt Nobu Manila, there\u2019s a special seven-course dinner tasting menu offered only on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1. Available for P5600++ per person, it starts with an amuse-bouche compliments of the chef, followed by scallops with anchovy salsa and grilled vegetables, and Assorted Sushi and Inaniwa Noodle Soup with rolled beef and asparagus. Salmon Apple with ponzu, extra virgin olive oil, wasabi salsa, chives, and garlic chips follows this; then Ika (squid) Salad with spicy lemon dressing, kelp salad roll, vegetable salsa, asparagus and yamagobo (pickled burdock root); King Prawn with shitake butter and seasonal vegetables; and Wagyu Short Ribs Nabeyaki with sake, soy, and mirin reduction, udon noodles, bok choy, and tofu come after. A dessert of Passion Fruit Mousse with flourless peanut caramel and crunchy peanuts concludes the meal.\nDiners looking for an indulgent brunch can opt for unlimited helpings of Nobu-style dishes at the restaurant\u2019s New Year Sunday brunch on Dec. 31. A hybrid of a la carte and buffet, it highlights whole tuna, and chilled seafood such as oysters, blue crab, and slipper lobsters. Whole rib roast and wagyu brisket served with mushroom wasabi pepper sauce and creamy wasabi, and wagyu striploin au jus are the brunch\u2019s pi\u00e8ce de resistance along with Nobu signature sashimi. Special ala carte choices, a ramen bar, a kushiyaki station, salads, and a wide array of desserts complete the new year\u2019s brunch spread, at P4,388 net per person.\nCity of Dreams Manila\u2019s modern Filipino restaurant Haliya welcomes the year with its Bagong Taon a la carte menu available on Dec. 31 from lunch onwards and for dinner on Jan. 1. This menu includes Bringhe de Bola with prawns, capsicum, tomato chutney and cheese sauce and Chicken and Tomato Consomm\u00e9 with 62-degree egg, charred onion oil, cherry tomato, bread and bone marrow butter, red chili finger, and micro greens. Beef Callos with chorizo, beef tripe adobo, Brussels sprouts, green olives, chickpeas, shallot confit, green peas, and potato truffle is a hefty entry. For dessert, the restaurant offers its innovative take on Filipino desserts with its version of Pastillas de Taro Parfait, with taro pastillas, ube and kesong puti pinwheel, cathedral window balls, crispy champorado and muscovado crumble.\nFor inquiries and reservations, call 8800-8080 or e-mail guestservices@cod-manila.com. For more information, visit www.cityofdreamsmanila.com.", "date_published": "2023-12-29T00:04:41+08:00", "date_modified": "2023-12-28T17:52:18+08:00", "authors": [ { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/cedadiantityclea/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/eda8ffc51ac7ec8b231b61b4c6a0d14e?s=512&d=mm&r=g" } ], "author": { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/cedadiantityclea/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/eda8ffc51ac7ec8b231b61b4c6a0d14e?s=512&d=mm&r=g" }, "image": "https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Nobu-Manilas-King-Prawn-with-shitake-butter-and-seasonal-vegetables.jpg", "tags": [ "New Year\u2019s Eve", "Arts & Leisure" ] }, { "id": "https://www.bworldonline.com/?p=565835", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/arts-and-leisure/2023/12/29/565835/lucasfilm-sues-star-wash-chilean-star-wars-themed-car-wash/", "title": "Lucasfilm sues Star Wash, Chilean Star Wars-themed car wash", "content_html": "SANTIAGO \u2014 Walt Disney production company Lucasfilm is suing a themed carwash on the outskirts of Chilean capital Santiago for plagiarizing its multibillion-dollar galactic film and television saga Star Wars, lawyers for the carwash said.
\nStar Wash has shared videos on social media showing attendants dressed as Star Wars characters such as Chewbacca or a Stormtrooper wiping down hoods, bounty hunter Boba Fett and hero Cassian Andor wielding hosepipes instead of blasters and Darth Vader appearing to use The Force to summon cleaning cloths.
\nThe law firm representing the carwash said that while owner Matias Jara was in the process of registering his brand with Chilean patent authority INAPI, he received a lawsuit from the franchise\u2019s creator, Lucasfilm.
\nMr. Jara\u2019s lawyers said the US movie production firm wanted to block the registration of the name and had argued that the brand could be confused as being affiliated with them. It has not raised issues with the attendants, they said.
\nLucasfilm did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
\nMr. Jara is contesting the suit, according to his lawyers, who argue that the name is sufficiently different from the movie franchise to avoid confusion and that the production company\u2019s copyright, while covering products such as toys, furniture, and non-alcoholic drinks, does not extend to cleaning cars.
\n\u201cOf course this lawsuit is affecting us. We\u2019re a small business and we\u2019re spending on things we hadn\u2019t budgeted for,\u201d Mr. Jara said in an interview.
\nHe said his young daughter had thought of the wordplay while on a family trip to a Disney theme park in the United States that features a Star Wars area.
\n\u201cWe don\u2019t make movies or sell their products or anything like that,\u201d Mr. Jara added, noting that his business was, however, a \u201cstellar\u201d car wash. \u2014 Reuters
\n", "content_text": "SANTIAGO \u2014 Walt Disney production company Lucasfilm is suing a themed carwash on the outskirts of Chilean capital Santiago for plagiarizing its multibillion-dollar galactic film and television saga Star Wars, lawyers for the carwash said.\nStar Wash has shared videos on social media showing attendants dressed as Star Wars characters such as Chewbacca or a Stormtrooper wiping down hoods, bounty hunter Boba Fett and hero Cassian Andor wielding hosepipes instead of blasters and Darth Vader appearing to use The Force to summon cleaning cloths.\nThe law firm representing the carwash said that while owner Matias Jara was in the process of registering his brand with Chilean patent authority INAPI, he received a lawsuit from the franchise\u2019s creator, Lucasfilm.\nMr. Jara\u2019s lawyers said the US movie production firm wanted to block the registration of the name and had argued that the brand could be confused as being affiliated with them. It has not raised issues with the attendants, they said.\nLucasfilm did not immediately respond to a request for comment.\nMr. Jara is contesting the suit, according to his lawyers, who argue that the name is sufficiently different from the movie franchise to avoid confusion and that the production company\u2019s copyright, while covering products such as toys, furniture, and non-alcoholic drinks, does not extend to cleaning cars.\n\u201cOf course this lawsuit is affecting us. We\u2019re a small business and we\u2019re spending on things we hadn\u2019t budgeted for,\u201d Mr. Jara said in an interview.\nHe said his young daughter had thought of the wordplay while on a family trip to a Disney theme park in the United States that features a Star Wars area.\n\u201cWe don\u2019t make movies or sell their products or anything like that,\u201d Mr. Jara added, noting that his business was, however, a \u201cstellar\u201d car wash. \u2014 Reuters", "date_published": "2023-12-29T00:03:26+08:00", "date_modified": "2023-12-28T17:42:09+08:00", "authors": [ { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/cedadiantityclea/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/eda8ffc51ac7ec8b231b61b4c6a0d14e?s=512&d=mm&r=g" } ], "author": { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/cedadiantityclea/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/eda8ffc51ac7ec8b231b61b4c6a0d14e?s=512&d=mm&r=g" }, "image": "https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/star-wash.jpg", "tags": [ "Star Wars", "Arts & Leisure" ] }, { "id": "https://www.bworldonline.com/?p=565834", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/arts-and-leisure/2023/12/29/565834/tom-smothers-half-of-american-comedy-duo-the-smothers-brothers-dies-at-86/", "title": "Tom Smothers, half of American comedy duo the Smothers Brothers, dies at 86", "content_html": "![\"\"](\"https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Tom-Smothers.jpg\")
AMERICAN comic Tom Smothers, one-half of the musical-comedy duo the Smothers Brothers, died on Tuesday at 86 at home in California after being diagnosed with cancer, his family said in a statement released by the National Comedy Center.
\nMr. Smothers and his younger brother, Dick, started out wanting to be folk singers but found success weaving comedy into their act, a formula they perfected in 1967 with the CBS show The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, a precursor of Saturday Night Live and other satirical television shows.
\nTom played guitar and Dick played bass, and both brothers sang. Their onstage performance of songs was usually derailed into comedy bits or arguments sparked by Tom.
\nIn his onscreen persona, Tom was the dimwitted, stammering older brother to Dick, spinning elaborate stories of their childhood and his resentment of Dick as their mother\u2019s favored son. When trick-or-treating on Halloween, he joked in one episode, their mother gave Dick a pillowcase in which to amass candy, while Tom had to make do with a sock.
\n\u201cTom was not only the loving older brother that everyone would want in their life, he was a one-of-a-kind creative partner,\u201d Dick Smothers said in a statement. \u201cOur relationship was like a good marriage \u2014 the longer we were together, the more we loved and respected one another.\u201d
\nTom Smothers was born in New York City on Feb. 2, 1937. His father, Thomas B. Smothers, was an officer of the US Army who died in 1945 as a Japanese prisoner of war. The family moved to Southern California while Tom and Dick were children.
\nIn interviews, Mr. Smothers described how his brother and he fought with network censors at CBS over the three seasons of the Comedy Hour. The show became popular with younger, more liberal viewers in the late 1960s for its acknowledgement of fraught political issues and its booking of performers like Joan Baez who openly opposed the Vietnam War.
\nMr. Smothers also played acoustic guitar on John Lennon\u2019s 1969 anti-war song \u201cGive Peace a Chance,\u201d Mr. Lennon\u2019s first solo single while still a member of the Beatles.
\nIn a statement, the National Comedy Center called Mr. Smothers a pioneer and \u201ca true champion for freedom of speech, harnessing the power of comedy to push boundaries and our political consciousness.\u201d \u2014 Reuters
\n", "content_text": "COMEDYCENTER.ORG\nAMERICAN comic Tom Smothers, one-half of the musical-comedy duo the Smothers Brothers, died on Tuesday at 86 at home in California after being diagnosed with cancer, his family said in a statement released by the National Comedy Center.\nMr. Smothers and his younger brother, Dick, started out wanting to be folk singers but found success weaving comedy into their act, a formula they perfected in 1967 with the CBS show The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, a precursor of Saturday Night Live and other satirical television shows.\nTom played guitar and Dick played bass, and both brothers sang. Their onstage performance of songs was usually derailed into comedy bits or arguments sparked by Tom.\nIn his onscreen persona, Tom was the dimwitted, stammering older brother to Dick, spinning elaborate stories of their childhood and his resentment of Dick as their mother\u2019s favored son. When trick-or-treating on Halloween, he joked in one episode, their mother gave Dick a pillowcase in which to amass candy, while Tom had to make do with a sock.\n\u201cTom was not only the loving older brother that everyone would want in their life, he was a one-of-a-kind creative partner,\u201d Dick Smothers said in a statement. \u201cOur relationship was like a good marriage \u2014 the longer we were together, the more we loved and respected one another.\u201d\nTom Smothers was born in New York City on Feb. 2, 1937. His father, Thomas B. Smothers, was an officer of the US Army who died in 1945 as a Japanese prisoner of war. The family moved to Southern California while Tom and Dick were children.\nIn interviews, Mr. Smothers described how his brother and he fought with network censors at CBS over the three seasons of the Comedy Hour. The show became popular with younger, more liberal viewers in the late 1960s for its acknowledgement of fraught political issues and its booking of performers like Joan Baez who openly opposed the Vietnam War.\nMr. Smothers also played acoustic guitar on John Lennon\u2019s 1969 anti-war song \u201cGive Peace a Chance,\u201d Mr. Lennon\u2019s first solo single while still a member of the Beatles.\nIn a statement, the National Comedy Center called Mr. Smothers a pioneer and \u201ca true champion for freedom of speech, harnessing the power of comedy to push boundaries and our political consciousness.\u201d \u2014 Reuters", "date_published": "2023-12-29T00:02:25+08:00", "date_modified": "2023-12-28T17:38:08+08:00", "authors": [ { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/cedadiantityclea/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/eda8ffc51ac7ec8b231b61b4c6a0d14e?s=512&d=mm&r=g" } ], "author": { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/cedadiantityclea/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/eda8ffc51ac7ec8b231b61b4c6a0d14e?s=512&d=mm&r=g" }, "image": "https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Tom-Smothers-thumb.jpg", "tags": [ "Tom Smothers", "Arts & Leisure" ] }, { "id": "https://www.bworldonline.com/?p=565833", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/arts-and-leisure/2023/12/29/565833/shakiras-home-city-unveils-giant-statue-of-hips-dont-lie-singer/", "title": "Shakira\u2019s home city unveils giant statue of \u2018Hips Don\u2019t Lie\u2019 singer", "content_html": "GRAMMY-WINNING Colombian singer Shakira, one of the world\u2019s top-selling musicians, has been immortalized in her famous belly-dancing pose in a giant bronze statue in her home city of Barranquilla.
\nThe city\u2019s Mayor Jaime Pumarejo unveiled the 6.5 meter (21 foot) sculpture in a park along the banks of the Magdalena River on Tuesday in the company of the singer\u2019s parents.
\nThe statue by artist Yino Marquez \u201cshows millions of girls that they can, that they can pursue their dreams and any of them can achieve what they want,\u201d said Mr. Pumarejo, noting that he used to see Shakira sing at local children\u2019s concerts.
\nThe sculpture shows the long, curly haired singer belly dancing with her arms overhead, in a sheer skirt with shiny aluminum decoration.
\nA plaque praises the singer, who won three 2023 Latin Grammy Awards, and cites her charity Pies Descalzos, Spanish for \u201cbare feet,\u201d for early childhood development.
\n\u201cA heart that composes, hips that do not lie, an unmatched talent, a voice that moves masses and feet that march for the good of children and humanity,\u201d it reads.
\nShakira, who lives in Miami, said in a statement from the mayor\u2019s office that she was honored by the statue and that Barranquilla will always be her home. \u2014 Reuters
\n", "content_text": "GRAMMY-WINNING Colombian singer Shakira, one of the world\u2019s top-selling musicians, has been immortalized in her famous belly-dancing pose in a giant bronze statue in her home city of Barranquilla.\nThe city\u2019s Mayor Jaime Pumarejo unveiled the 6.5 meter (21 foot) sculpture in a park along the banks of the Magdalena River on Tuesday in the company of the singer\u2019s parents.\nThe statue by artist Yino Marquez \u201cshows millions of girls that they can, that they can pursue their dreams and any of them can achieve what they want,\u201d said Mr. Pumarejo, noting that he used to see Shakira sing at local children\u2019s concerts.\nThe sculpture shows the long, curly haired singer belly dancing with her arms overhead, in a sheer skirt with shiny aluminum decoration.\nA plaque praises the singer, who won three 2023 Latin Grammy Awards, and cites her charity Pies Descalzos, Spanish for \u201cbare feet,\u201d for early childhood development.\n\u201cA heart that composes, hips that do not lie, an unmatched talent, a voice that moves masses and feet that march for the good of children and humanity,\u201d it reads.\nShakira, who lives in Miami, said in a statement from the mayor\u2019s office that she was honored by the statue and that Barranquilla will always be her home. \u2014 Reuters", "date_published": "2023-12-29T00:01:24+08:00", "date_modified": "2023-12-28T17:35:54+08:00", "authors": [ { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/cedadiantityclea/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/eda8ffc51ac7ec8b231b61b4c6a0d14e?s=512&d=mm&r=g" } ], "author": { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/cedadiantityclea/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/eda8ffc51ac7ec8b231b61b4c6a0d14e?s=512&d=mm&r=g" }, "image": "https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Shakira.jpg", "tags": [ "Shakira", "Arts & Leisure" ] }, { "id": "https://www.bworldonline.com/?p=565621", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/arts-and-leisure/2023/12/28/565621/wellness-retreat-is-expanding/", "title": "Wellness retreat is expanding", "content_html": "\r\n \r\n\r\nBy Joseph L. Garcia, Senior Reporter
\nTHE FARM at San Benito in Batangas has been chugging along with expansion plans.
\nAccording to one of the owners, Rajan Uttamchandani, during a tour of the property on Dec. 14, the resort (which had been hailed as the country\u2019s Best Wellness Retreat by the World Spa Awards in October) has gone from just over 20 rooms in 2018, to more than 60 today. Furthermore, in the future, the property plans to expand from the 11-hectare space which they currently occupy to make full use of the 52 hectares The Farm sits on.
\nThey\u2019ve already started: businesswoman and philanthropist Pinky Tobiano has already built a villa on the farm, with nine more villa-sized spaces allotted for their brand ambassadors. \u201cWe don\u2019t envision selling more in the first phase,\u201d said Mr. Uttamchandani. \u201cWhen we do develop the larger real estate in the back, there would be some expansion plans to bring in tourists and foreigners to also invest in the Philippines,\u201d he told BusinessWorld. But plans are still somewhat vague. \u201cWe don\u2019t know yet, to be honest, we\u2019re still conceptualizing the master plan for the larger property.\u201d
\nRight now, they\u2019re looking to develop 26 or 27 hectares more. \u201cWe\u2019re looking at an international wellness community,\u201d he said. \u201cThe idea is to really expand, but to expand with a purpose.\u201d
\nLONG TERM PANDEMIC GUESTS
\nThe Dec. 14 tour was ostensibly for their Christmas tree lighting, but it was also a way for them to celebrate the property\u2019s 21st anniversary. The Farm was founded by Eckard Rempe in the early 2000s and was acquired by CG Hospitality Holdings Chairman Binod K. Chaudhary in 2018. \u201cIn the \u201990s, nobody was talking about wellness,\u201d said Mr. Uttamchandani.
\u201cI think the pandemic really propelled people taking care of their bodies and health,\u201d he said, remembering that they pivoted to medical solutions during the COVID-19 pandemic, bringing in their first guest during the lockdowns in July 2020. A number of the pandemic guests were long-term, with some staying up to one and a half years. \u201cAfter the pandemic, they realized that their real wealth is your health. Why not invest in yourself? The joke is, if you spend a night here, you extend your life by a year.\u201d He gave his own body as an example: he once stayed for four days and left six kilos lighter. \u201cThese are all medically proven,\u201d he said of the resort\u2019s treatments. \u201cThese are European machines that do the diagnostics.\u201d
\nThe pandemic also skewed guest nationality figures: while guests at The Farm were once an equal 50/50 mix between domestic visitors and foreign guests, 70% of The Farm\u2019s guests are now locals.
\nMAGICAL WISHING MANGO TREE
\nMeanwhile, with the land around The Farm about to be redeveloped, Mr. Uttamchandani talked about the alleged mystical properties in the area. Its German founder had believed there is an energy source at the foot of the Malarayat mountains where The Farm is located. Near those mountains sits the resort\u2019s storied tree, about 300 years old, where the property\u2019s 15 or so peacocks come to roost. \u201cThat 300-year-old mango tree is said to have strong blessings. I can give you personal experiences. Things I have wished for on that mango tree \u2014 no biases \u2014 have come true. But you have to do it with a clean heart,\u201d said Mr. Uttamchandani.
Celebrity ambassador for The Farm, actress Iza Calzado, who was present for the tree-lighting, said that she has wished upon the mango tree herself. \u201cA lot of the things that I wished for came true,\u201d she said, saying that she first visited The Farm in 2011. She recalled that with her husband, Ben Wintle, \u201cWe also wished for something. Actually, someone,\u201d she said, introducing her daughter, Deia Amihan, who was celebrating her first Christmas party at The Farm.
\nThe Farm at San Benito is hosting a New Year\u2019s Eve Dinner and Countdown at its restaurants Alive! (which had just received its Halal certification), Prana, and Pesce.
\n", "content_text": "1 of 2\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n YOGA by the famous lagoon at The Farm.\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n CELEBRITY ambassador for The Farm, actress Iza Calzado.\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n \nWhile plans are vague, The Farm at San Benito is looking into villas, magical wishing mango tree willing\nBy Joseph L. Garcia, Senior Reporter \nTHE FARM at San Benito in Batangas has been chugging along with expansion plans.\nAccording to one of the owners, Rajan Uttamchandani, during a tour of the property on Dec. 14, the resort (which had been hailed as the country\u2019s Best Wellness Retreat by the World Spa Awards in October) has gone from just over 20 rooms in 2018, to more than 60 today. Furthermore, in the future, the property plans to expand from the 11-hectare space which they currently occupy to make full use of the 52 hectares The Farm sits on.\nThey\u2019ve already started: businesswoman and philanthropist Pinky Tobiano has already built a villa on the farm, with nine more villa-sized spaces allotted for their brand ambassadors. \u201cWe don\u2019t envision selling more in the first phase,\u201d said Mr. Uttamchandani. \u201cWhen we do develop the larger real estate in the back, there would be some expansion plans to bring in tourists and foreigners to also invest in the Philippines,\u201d he told BusinessWorld. But plans are still somewhat vague. \u201cWe don\u2019t know yet, to be honest, we\u2019re still conceptualizing the master plan for the larger property.\u201d\nRight now, they\u2019re looking to develop 26 or 27 hectares more. \u201cWe\u2019re looking at an international wellness community,\u201d he said. \u201cThe idea is to really expand, but to expand with a purpose.\u201d\nLONG TERM PANDEMIC GUESTS\nThe Dec. 14 tour was ostensibly for their Christmas tree lighting, but it was also a way for them to celebrate the property\u2019s 21st anniversary. The Farm was founded by Eckard Rempe in the early 2000s and was acquired by CG Hospitality Holdings Chairman Binod K. Chaudhary in 2018. \u201cIn the \u201990s, nobody was talking about wellness,\u201d said Mr. Uttamchandani.\n\u201cI think the pandemic really propelled people taking care of their bodies and health,\u201d he said, remembering that they pivoted to medical solutions during the COVID-19 pandemic, bringing in their first guest during the lockdowns in July 2020. A number of the pandemic guests were long-term, with some staying up to one and a half years. \u201cAfter the pandemic, they realized that their real wealth is your health. Why not invest in yourself? The joke is, if you spend a night here, you extend your life by a year.\u201d He gave his own body as an example: he once stayed for four days and left six kilos lighter. \u201cThese are all medically proven,\u201d he said of the resort\u2019s treatments. \u201cThese are European machines that do the diagnostics.\u201d\nThe pandemic also skewed guest nationality figures: while guests at The Farm were once an equal 50/50 mix between domestic visitors and foreign guests, 70% of The Farm\u2019s guests are now locals.\nMAGICAL WISHING MANGO TREE\nMeanwhile, with the land around The Farm about to be redeveloped, Mr. Uttamchandani talked about the alleged mystical properties in the area. Its German founder had believed there is an energy source at the foot of the Malarayat mountains where The Farm is located. Near those mountains sits the resort\u2019s storied tree, about 300 years old, where the property\u2019s 15 or so peacocks come to roost. \u201cThat 300-year-old mango tree is said to have strong blessings. I can give you personal experiences. Things I have wished for on that mango tree \u2014 no biases \u2014 have come true. But you have to do it with a clean heart,\u201d said Mr. Uttamchandani.\nCelebrity ambassador for The Farm, actress Iza Calzado, who was present for the tree-lighting, said that she has wished upon the mango tree herself. \u201cA lot of the things that I wished for came true,\u201d she said, saying that she first visited The Farm in 2011. She recalled that with her husband, Ben Wintle, \u201cWe also wished for something. Actually, someone,\u201d she said, introducing her daughter, Deia Amihan, who was celebrating her first Christmas party at The Farm.\nThe Farm at San Benito is hosting a New Year\u2019s Eve Dinner and Countdown at its restaurants Alive! (which had just received its Halal certification), Prana, and Pesce.", "date_published": "2023-12-28T00:05:22+08:00", "date_modified": "2023-12-27T18:09:33+08:00", "authors": [ { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/zievelivminerth/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/b32fbfdef56dafe9033e030c6a656bfb?s=512&d=mm&r=g" } ], "author": { "name": "BusinessWorld", "url": "https://www.bworldonline.com/author/zievelivminerth/", "avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/b32fbfdef56dafe9033e030c6a656bfb?s=512&d=mm&r=g" }, "image": "https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/yoga-by-the-famous-lagoon-at-the-farm-at-san-benito-lipa-city-batangas.jpg", "tags": [ "Iza Calzado", "Joseph L. Garcia", "THE FARM AT SAN BENITO", "Arts & Leisure", "Editors' Picks" ], "summary": "THE FARM at San Benito in Batangas has been chugging along with expansion plans." } ] }![\"\"](\"https://www.bworldonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/The-Rose-Thumb.jpg\")
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