Les Miserables Extended First Look

This looks incredible. I can't wait for Christmas.

Helmed by The King's Speech's Academy Award-winning director, Tom Hooper, Les Misérables stars Hugh Jackman, Oscar® winner Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway and Amanda Seyfried.

Maroon 5 Moves Like Jagger in Manila 2012

Manila, brace yourself for  the return of immensely popular band Maroon 5, especially its charismatic frontman Adam Levine. Their hit single, "Moves Like Jagger" went on as a really popular anthem filling every radio station. Their videos played on and on featuring the shirtless, tattooed vocalist, his unique voice stands apart from every band as of late. Their latest song, "One More Night" is destined to be another hit, watch out for it. (Be warned though, the lack of Adam in the video is upsetting!) I especially love the single "Payphone" and the video is so action-packed!

Maroon5 LIVE IN MANILA happens on September 18, 2012 at the SMART Araneta Coliseum. With special guest, The Cab. Tickets will start selling on June 25, 2012 at www.ticketnet.com.ph or any outlet. The event is presented by Midas Promotions in cooperation with Dayly Entertainment.

Pacquiao Loses to Bradley

It's a day of shock, disbelief and mourning for all of the small island nation of the Philippine. Modern-day boxing hero, Manny Pacquiao, loses to Timothy Bradley in a shocking split decision that gave the latter the World Welterweight title. For the longest time, the invincible Pacquiao, suddenly became human.

Mommy Dionisia, the poster child for anxiety attacks, just passed out on her fashionable Victorian furniture. Like any mommy out there who has protected her son from mosquito bites, I'm sure news of Manny's loss will stop all oxygen from reaching her brain. Somebody please put the poor woman out of her misery and retire Manny Pacquiao right here, right now.

Compubox showed Pacquiao connected 253 punches to Bradley's 159, with a 63-51 advantage in jabs and 190-108 in power punches. (Rappler)

I've been having a bad feeling about this fight since it was announced. Manny, ever so distracted by his interests on the side (nothing major, really, it's just Congress. And oh, let's talk about how he's also a billionaire, businessman, basketball player, model, endorser, actor, philantrophist, preacher, tv show host,  major cockfight player, in-demand celebrity in the Philippines and in the USA, father, husband and fully-pledged Karaoke enthusiast. Oh and I forgot, he's also an ARMY GENERAL)

Tell me how that's not in any way going to affect his fights, from hereon and up to the next fight. We might as well predict the demise of his career then. That's my biggest fear for Pacquiao, he's gotta quit while ahead, retire an undefeated boxing great. Than suffer the fate of those he "retired" from boxing like Dela Hoya and Morales. Is he going to retire past his prime when there's not much left to fight for?

Manny is a Hollywood favorite (except for Justin Bieber because he likes convict Mayweather more) and twitter is flooded with retweets from disappointed celebrities

Taken from Mondo Di Musica

Meanwhile, the internet is ablaze with memes.

And to the unlucky ones who bet on Manny, like LUCKY Manzano, who apparently bet 3M on Pacman: Boy, you're UNLUCKY! I'm smelling over a billion dollars on failed bets today.

Excited for The Amazing Spiderman

We're crazy with anticipation

with the newest Spiderman installment: The Amazing Spiderman starring Andrew Garfied! 

The kids (myself included) absolutely love everything Spiderman. The house is laden with Spidey toys, books, stickers, posters, shirts and even raincoats! I can't wait to see what our new actor, Andrew Garfield, has to offer as Peter Parker as carries the torch to this Marvel legacy. It's an interesting take on how Peter finds the truth about his parents.

My Kids Want To Watch Varekai in Manila!

I showed my kids videos of world-renowned performing circus, Cirque du Soleil, currently performing "Varekai" live in Manila. First thing Miguel said was, "Wow!" while Marco said, "Is it real, mommy?" I said, "Yes, son, it is real. It's a circus show!" "Woah. Can we go watch, mom?" I said, "Sure, we will!" I would hate to break their hearts.

So when HOOPLA, INC announced that they're giving away tickets, I grabbed on the chance to let the kids experience the best circus in the world. Here are Miguel and Marco, working their way hard for their tickets. You can't imagine how game they were to pose. In their young minds, they really thought this was for the circus people they saw online. And yes, they colored these! (Until they started complaining that their hands were beginning to hurt from all the coloring so I finished what they couldn't.)

 

THANKS!

Good luck, boys!

Disney Live! Comes to Manila and Cebu

No other cartoon company has been a part of my childhood as much as Disney has. Countless days and nights I have spent imagining I was a Princess Belle, Jasmine and Ariel wishing for that one day I will meet my true prince, talk to animals and belt like an opera singer. (Hah!) To this day I can sing Disney songs by heart and all the lyrics are pretty much encrypted in my brain. I imagined escaping to a world where I lived in a castle and wish upon a lamp, and a blue genie will grant everyone of my wishes, like owning a mall, and have pretty much everything I saw on TV from toys to cars. LOL. Such wild dreams were very much a part of my childhood. Back in the day when things were simpler, there was a very fine line between reality and the magical world of Disney.


Now I'm a fully grown adult and a mom to little people like how I was once was, I learned that we should never stop dreaming. This is what makes Disney so unique, a spark of dreams, family-friendly themes, history lessons and good values in a brand that has sought out generations and generations. My kids are not immune to loving Mickey and Friends, their preferred channel over other cartoon channels is still Playhouse Disney. I remember watching Disney on Ice from a time not too long ago. It was magical. I couldn't be happier that Disney Live! comes to Manila and Cebu for the first time.



Mickey Mouse and his band of friends, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy will be performing in a music mash-up of mega proportions  as Disney Live! comes to Manila and Cebu City for the first time with its newest stage show Mickey’s Music Festival.  Concert goers will hear greatest hits from the blockbuster movies, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, and Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story remixed to rock, pop, reggae, hip-hop, jazz and country, among other jams.  Produced by Feld Entertainment, Disney Live! Mickey’s Music Festival brings the biggest concert experience to hit live family entertainment.

   “One song can touch millions of people around the world and Disney has been at the beat of this concept for years by making music a main ingredient of storytelling,” said Producer and CEO of Feld Entertainment Kenneth Feld.  “In Disney Live! Mickey’s Music Festival we are celebrating with the Disney characters to a soundtrack of the latest sounds and chart-topping hits. We want our guests to walk away with lasting memories and singing these unforgettable melodies long after they leave the show.”

Disney Live! Mickey’s Music Festival, featuring an all star line-up of more than 25 Disney characters,   begins with audiences watching a state-of-the-art video projection of the frenzy backstage which spills onto the stage as Mickey welcomes guests to his concert tour.  Soon thereafter, they will be transported to a new world of hip hop beats, dizzying acrobatics, flying carpets and magical transformations with Aladdin, Jasmine and Genie.  Underwater is where the crowd will meet up with Ariel, Sebastian and their nautical pals to groove to the reggae rhythm. And, family and friends will stomp to the beat as Woody, Buzz and Jessie teach them how to boogie rodeo-style.  Anyone can be a member of the band as giant-sized balloons fall from the ceiling in one scene and then in the next, Disney characters are dancing in the aisles.  

“We’ve created an environment where audience members will be able to connect with the Disney stars,” said Alana Feld, Producer and Executive Vice President of Feld Entertainment. “Within each concert moment are elements of personal interaction and they will be harmonizing, dancing, laughing and having an outrageously good time with the characters right there in their city.”

Disney Live! Mickey’s Music Festival is presented in the Philippines by Vivre Fort Entertainment Inc. and is set to be staged this year at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel from September 23-25 and at the Araneta Coliseum from October 5-9. For Manila shows, tickets are exclusively available at Ticketnet (911-5555) located in SM Department stores and at the Araneta Coliseum. For Cebu shows, tickets can be purchased at SM Tickets (032-231-3876) located in SM Cinemas, Waterfront Cebu City Hotel (032-232-6888), Ayala Center Cebu and also at Ticketnet. For more details, visit www.disneylive.com.ph or call Vivre Fort Entertainment at (02) 470 6956.

Can't wait!

Circque du Soleil's Varekai in Manila!

They say you should see Cirque du Soleil at least once in your lifetime.

The touring arm of the world-renowned Cirque brings one of its best productions to Manila, Varekai. Varekai has been touring for the past nine years in North America, Australia and Europe and this is the first time they're performing in Asia. 

A short synopsis from Everything In Budget reads:

Varekai is a Cirque du Soleil touring production that premiered in Montréal in April 2002. Its title means "wherever" in the Romani language, and the show is an "acrobatic tribute to the nomadic soul". The plot is based loosely on the Greek myth of Icarus, who melts his wings after flying too close to the sun. Rather than drowning in the sea below him, in Varekai Icarus lands inside a lush forest, in which the creatures teach him how to fly again.

The Varekai troupe consists of 56 performers, of which there are a few principal characters. Varekai's acts comprise many acrobatic talents, ranging from aerial arts to Russian swing, among others.

Taken from The Manila Bulletin:


“What I love about ‘Varekai’ is that it was always meant to be a celebration of life,” Cirque du Soleil's Artistic Director for Varekai Matheiu Gatien shares. “From the beginning of the show, all the cast is onstage, and we really kick it off with incredibly beautiful music… very explosive. In times that are a bit difficult, economically and for different reasons, we need to give people a place to dream and to escape… and to just appreciate something that’s just beautiful.” 


For the first time in its storied history, the world renowned Cirque du Soleil comes to the Philippines with one of its touring productions. With a promise to bring its audience into an extraordinary world deep into the forest, at the summit of a volcano, where the story unfolds, “Varekai” will be an explosive fusion of drama and acrobatics set in a magical forest with fantastical creatures all joining the absurd-yet-extraordinary adventure of a young man in the midst of it all.


Just to give a brief idea of how intricate the production is, the costumes alone provide astounding figures. There are over 130 costumes in the show’s wardrobe—with a total of 600 original costumes, shoes, wigs, hats and accessories developed after over 33,000 hours of hard work. In North America, Cirque du Soleil has almost 400 full time employees working in fields as varied as shoemaking, textile design, wig-making, lace-making, and so on.

And because the show is so intricate, and without time to train local workers or even artists, Gatien admits they could only hire local front-of-house staff (ushers) as well as food and beverage people for each stop, like they would in Manila. “It’s more… [for] welcoming of the people. We trust the local people to know how to operate, how to speak to them, to make them really welcome in our big top,” he notes, but also adds, “The follow spot operator, we hire one every city, as a gesture.”


This not-to-be-missed spectacle runs from June 23-July 10, 2011 at the Blue-and-Yellow Grand Chapiteau (Big Top) Tent at the Luneta, across Quirino Grandstand. Make Varekai that once in your life chance to see Cirque du Soleil!

Cheche Lazaro Presents: Ang Tunay na Pag-ibig ni Lolo Jose

Mark your calendars and set your alarms.
You'll miss half your life if you missed this episode. Enough with the Glee crap.
Cheche Lazaro Presents on Sunday, June 19, 10:30 pm.