WITH SO MANY bands trying to make it into the music scene, the goal has always been about making an impact — and for three-year-old band CHNDTR, it meant creating their own musical genre.

HERE’S THE TWIST: this romcom deals, not with the usual BPO agents, medical professionals, corporate drones, teacher-trainers, restaurant waitstaff, or OFWs — any of the jobs most upwardly mobile millennials inevitably gravitate to — but with sex industry workers, colloquially known as pokpok. For those in the upper tiers, compensation runs into the low five figures per hour, which is the usual call center agent’s or bank teller’s starting monthly salary. At their peak, the pokpok might become tax-free millionaires many times over — within the four short years that might have been spent getting a college degree — which is something that most college-degree holder retirees with decades of service never get to.

ALL OF THE actors on-screen in this sophisticated millennial relationship melodrama where most of the dialogue is in Filipino English, are extraordinarily good-looking and upwardly mobile, starting with the leads Arci Muñoz as Romina or Rome, an advertising creative, and JC Santos as Ethan, her boyfriend who appears to be in logistics. It’s not clear exactly what he does, except that he just made General Manager and his hot lady superior Erika (Ina Raymundo) is very pleased with him. However, scene after scene of gorgeous twenty-somethings with perfectly made up and lighted features, costumed in well-put together outfits, sipping wine, clubbing, or even getting it on in their spacious townhouse units, may not be enough to hold one’s interest. The audience was disturbingly silent throughout most of OPEN, directed by Andoy Ranay, in a Makati cinema, one of 200 where this film is being screened as part of the National Film Development Board’s Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino.

THE ACCLAIMED writer and director Rodolfo “Jun” Robles Lana once again proves his versatility and attention to craftsmanship as a director. The naughty but nice script by Ivan Payawal, is full of the usual cultural allusions, which have trickled down from the cornucopia of kabaklaan (Filipino Gay Culture), to enrich Filipino popular culture as a whole: e.g., the Panti patriarch’s (John Arcilla) legal wife is Nora (Carmi Martin) and his déclassé mistress is Vilma (Rosanna Roces). Apart from the obvious funny of the family name Panti, the eldest son Gabriel or Gabbi’s (Paolo Ballesteros) drag name is Vukaka and his culinary specialty is kare-kareng kokak (literally frog curry, but the joke is simply in the childish alliteration). Arcilla plays it straight and insists that his effeminate sons address him always as “Don Emilio.” He is a willing foil to everyone else. It is his character who sets the premise from which the entire film’s plot loopily spools out.

WHEN MICROSOFT acquired the rights to the Gears of War franchise in early 2014, it was evidently out to push back against the underwhelming results of Gears of War: Judgment. Granted, the fourth installment of the immensely popular series still moved seven figures in aggregate physical and digital copies. However, it produced numbers that paled in comparison to previous releases and thereby failed to match expectations. More importantly, the technology company saw fit to protect its intellectual property far beyond the near term.

YOUTUBE NEXTUP, an internationally staged contest where smaller YouTube creators are given the chance to learn how to scale up their channels, has named its newest batch of winners from the Philippines and the roster includes a poultry farming channel, a men’s beauty channel, and a Philippine law tutorial channel.

FORMER FRONTMEN of bands 6Cyclemind, Moonstar88, and Rivermaya are set to take the stage on Sept. 20 in Bacoor, Cavite, for a one-night concert to raise funds to buy medical supplies for people with hemophilia and who are undergoing dialysis.

A DESIGNER-LED fashion initiative, the PHx Fashion Conference aims to provide a holistic, inspirational, and informative experience for Filipino fashion practitioners, and ultimately, to expand the market for Philippine fashion. The conference -- to be held on Nov. 11 to 14 at the Philippine Trade Training Center in Pasay City -- will tap into the combined strengths of Japan and the Philippines to incubate the next generation of global Filipino fashion designers.

YOU’LL HAVE just until today to get a pedicure similar to those that keep Cate Blanchett, Robert de Niro, Naomi Campbell, and Gwyneth Paltrow on their feet. Until Sept. 16, the Conrad Manila highlights “Healing Foot Treatments” with celebrity podiatrist Albin Brion of BGA at its Conrad Spa. The 60-minute treatment consists of a specially designed foot care and pedicure session followed by a relaxing foot massage that helps alleviate foot ailments or soreness and aides in restoring the elasticity of the skin and nails.

LATER THIS month, the Jordan Brand will release the Air Jordan 34 which it describes as introducing new innovations with the players of today and the future in mind.

LONDON -- British designer Molly Goddard focused on volume for women’s spring wardrobes at her London Fashion Week show on Saturday, presenting a colorful collection of puffy smock dresses, frilly skirts and plenty of her eye-catching trademark tulle frocks.

Great Grand Prix Singapore THE Grand Prix Season Singapore (GPSS) is ongoing until Sept. 22, highlighted by a mix of exclusive parties, food offerings, retail...