Tag: Zsarlene B. Chua

A LESSER-KNOWN historical event that took place during the administration of President Manuel L. Quezon is the topic of the film Quezon’s Game. Directed by Matthew E. Rosen and produced by ABS-CBN’s Star Cinema, it will be released nationwide on May 29.

ABS-CBN’s afternoon drama Kadenang Ginto, about the conflicts within the affluent Mondragon family, continues to amass a loyal following. The network announced that its daily highlights videos uploaded on the network’s YouTube channel has exceeded 800 million total views while its page on the network’s streaming service records more than 1.5 million views daily.

BECAUSE of the sweltering heat over the past few months, I, who typically include seven to 10 steps in my daily skincare routine, made it my mission to create a simpler routine that is lightweight, that could withstand the heat and yet give me everything my skin needs.

FOR MANY the 1980s were a decade when people could be themselves, from fashion to culture to music — especially the music. As singer Jett Pangan of rock band The Dawn described, the sounds of the decade had “a nice diversity” and “innocence.”

DESPITE not having released a full-length album, Indie folk pop band Ben&Ben has taken streaming sites and the airwaves by storm with a succession of hit singles since 2017 including “Maybe the Night” and “Kathang Isip.”

PHILIPPINE “post-hardcore” Christian band Firefalldown released its first single in three years, “Kahulugan,” a song about finding meaning and truth.

GLOBALGATE Entertainment, the local-language film consortium of American entertainment company Lionsgate, has added the Philippines’ Viva Communications, Inc. to its 13-country entertainment network which signal’s Viva’s strengthening efforts to make its productions available to the international market.

IF Ang Kwento Nating Dalawa (2015) became a cult favorite because of its “rawness” as described by the film’s director, its sequel — which comes four years after the first — is anything but as Nestor Abrogena wanted to make Tayo sa Huling Buwan ng Taon, which opens in cinemas on May 8, something more than its predecessor.

A DOCUMENTARY about Filipina spies of World War II won “Best Pitch” at the recently concluded pitching showcase conducted by the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) and the Motion Picture Association (MPA) in celebration of the World Intellectual Property Day.

THE final film of Marvel’s Avengers Infinity saga, Avengers: Endgame, shattered Philippine box- office records as it posted P937.5 million over the four days since it opened on April 24, making it the film with the biggest opening weekend of all time.

DWEIN BALTAZAR’S romantic comedy Gusto Kita with All My Hypothalamus bagged the Filipino Academy for Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS) Awards’ top categories including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay, beating Filipino auteur Lav Diaz’s rock opera Ang Panahon ng Halimaw for Best Picture and Best Director.

THE YouTube FanFest, which gathers international and local YouTube content creators to meet each other and their fans in real life, returns for a fifth year on May 26 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

SOCIAL MEDIA giant Facebook has brought to the Philippines a localized version of its global literacy program We Think Digital, aiming to conduct online and in-person training sessions for a million Filipino netizens by end-2020 to “develop skills that enable Filipinos to create a positive and safe culture online.”

STAYING true to its commitment to sustainability, the City of Dreams (COD) Manila has expanded the vermicomposting facility on the property as part of its ongoing “eco-efficient operations.”

FOR ITS fourth year, the Moviemov Italian Film Festival is presenting a selection of art films at the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) Cinematheque in Manila.

WHEN the first Seda hotel opened in Taguig’s Bonifacio Global City in 2013, Ayala Land Hotels and Resorts Corp. (ALHRC) envisioned the brand as focusing on business hotels located in strategic and bustling cities around the country. But in 2017, the company opened its first five-star property, Seda Vertis North, in Quezon City — with 438 rooms and a grand ballroom — making it the largest hotel in the city.

FOR ITS first foray into scripted entertainment, Fox Networks Group (FNG) Philippines, decided to take a gamble on Mark A. Meily’s Maledicto, a “character-driven horror film” about exorcism and a skeptical priest which is set to premiere on May 1 in cinemas nationwide.

VETERAN singer/actress Esperanza “Zsa Zsa” Padilla marks another year in the music industry with a May 16 concert at Resorts World Manila, promising a night where she performs “like never before” by singing hits of the decades in various personas.

GMA NETWORK’s comedy series Daddy’s Girl topped the Twitter charts for the first three months of the year as the social networking service named the show the “top teleserye” for the first quarter of the year.

YOUNG LIVING, a Utah-based multilevel marketing company selling essential oils, has officially launched its Philippine headquarters located in Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in Taguig amid growing interest from the Filipino market.

LOCAL beauty brand Happy Skin now offers “an active line” of makeup in collaboration with actress Kathryn Bernardo that is made for people who want their makeup to last the entire day even through the sweatiest conditions.

GMA NEWS and Public Affairs becomes a part of the “future of online news” as it launched Stand for Truth, a weeknight online newscast “produced and reported by the young, for the young,” according to a company press release.

FOR ITS third year, Sinulid, the annual culminating show of the graduating students from the Fashion Design and Merchandising (FDM) program of the De La Salle College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) is focusing on three things: inclusion, diversity, and sustainability to be tackled in a three-part event spaced throughout the year.

GAME OF THRONES is days away from the premiere of its final season (April 15 in the Philippines) and those who will miss the premiere will find themselves disappointed as Netflix isn’t carrying the series for people who want to catch up.

MEGAWORLD Corp. launched its eighth hotel property, Hotel Lucky Chinatown, located in Binondo, Manila.

THE SONS of singer-songwriter Jose Mari Chan, Jose Mari “Joe” Jr. and Michael “Mike” Chan, have released a self-titled full-length album with 10 tracks exemplifying their mastery of several genres including rock and ballads.

CANADIAN-AMERICAN funny man Michael Thomas “Tom” Green is set to make Filipinos laugh as he makes a stop in Makati on his ongoing Asia Comedy Tour. The show will be held on April 13 at the ballroom of the City Club of Alphaland Place in Makati City.

BRAZILIAN footwear brand, Melissa has brought to the Philippines its limited edition collection done in collaboration with Italian sporting goods brand, Fila, making it the first Melissa collection geared towards the currently popular “athleisure” trend.

JAPANESE apparel retailer Uniqlo welcomed the hot summer heat with a week-long interactive exhibit representing its three daily summer essentials line.

FERDIE MARQUEZ, one of the founding members of Original Pilipino Music (OPM) band True Faith, passed away on Sunday due to a heart attack.

MODEL/ACTOR Derek Ramsay has signed an exclusive contract with GMA Network, ending his seven-month hiatus from show business.

KNOWN FOR his modernist geometric abstracts, National Artist for Visual Arts Arturo R. Luz’s works commands millions of pesos in auctions, but now that he has put his life as an artist behind him — in the words of his granddaughter — people can find limited edition prints of his work on sale and on serving trays and boxes until May in two Rustan’s locations — Shangri-La in Mandaluyong and in the department store branch in Makati.

THE Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) has announced the first three entries to this year’s Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino (PPP), which will be held from Sept. 13 to 19 in cinemas nationwide.

IT’s all systems go as PHAR Philippines launches TUBE, an in-transit media platform which offers GPS-triggered passenger information and exclusive entertainment content, in three of Metro Manila’s train systems: LRT-1, LRT-2, and MRT-3.

SUMMER has officially begun in the Philippines and together with the hotter (and humid) temperatures (and water shortages), protecting one’s skin from the sun is really important, that’s why American skincare brand Kiehl’s has come out with two new items expanding its suncare line, with one made especially for Asian skin.

ASIAN video-on-demand (VOD) service iflix has finally launched Mystified, the company’s first foray into creating original content from the Philippines, with a special arrangement for it to be streamed on Twitter tonight.

THE Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Performatura: Performance Literature Festival is back for its third installment as it once again “highlights the rich tapestry of Philippine artistic traditions that leap beyond the written word.”

SINGAPORE-BASED fashion and lifestyle e-commerce platform Zilingo has entered the Philippines hoping to “democratize the fashion and beauty industry” by streamlining the supply chain and “empower[ing] businesses” by providing services including product development and working capital.

ONE OF the most popular rock bands in the country, Sponge Cola, is set to launch its sixth studio album, Sea of Lights, via an intimate one-night concert on March 29, 7 p.m., at the Power Mac Spotlight, Circuit Makati.

LAST YEAR, not even half of the Philippines’ population of 110 million went to the cinema. Then in February, seasoned film director Erik Matti went on Facebook calling for government intervention in order to save the ailing film industry. A month later, industry stakeholders have finally sat down and begun discussing what should be done in order to toss the industry its much-needed life jacket.

LAV DIAZ’ rock opera, Panahon ng Halimaw, leads this year’s nominations for the annual Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS) Awards with nine nominations including Best Picture, Best Director, and four Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role nominations for Shaina Magdayao, Bituin Escalante, Pinky Amador, and Hazel Orencio.

LAZADA Philippines is confident of sustaining growth in the country, which has been aided in part by the declining cost of internet access and mobile devices.

IN CELEBRATION of World Poetry Day, the 80-year-old Kamuning Bakery and Café in Quezon City is offering coffee in exchange for original poetry in any language or dialect on March 21.

ATUL KHATRI was the CEO of his family-run IT business (Kaytek Computer Services Private Limited) but at the age of 43, boredom and a midlife crisis got to him and he started doing stand-up comedy — initially just to tick it off his bucket list, but he found that he had a real knack for comedy, Then, after 25 years in the company, he chucked it all in favor of making people laugh. Before he knew it, he had gone around the world, performing more than 400 shows.

THE EUROPEAN UNION (EU) Delegation to the Philippines has brought the EU Earth Observation Copernicus Programme to the country in hopes that the data will help the Philippines address environmental monitoring requirements in various industries and sectors.