Limelight

Review by Jocelyn Noveck / The Associated Press I’ll admit it: About an hour into Fantastic Four, the inexplicably plodding and dreary new attempt to adapt the beloved Marvel story, I started thinking about Ethan Hunt from Mission: Impossible.

After 39 years, 180 productions, numerous artists and countless possibilities, Dulaang Unibersidad ng Pilipinas (Dulaang UP or DUP) is all set to begin its 40th season with the theme “20/20 Vision: Clarity. Originality. Perspective.” With Dexter M. Santos as the theater company’s new artistic director, this season’s line-up puts premium on strengthening the DUP brand and continuing its legacy. The …

Review by Jocelyn Noveck / The Associated Press There’s some interesting talk in the cleverly satisfying script of Mission: Impossible—Rogue Nation about the element of luck. As in: How much is luck a factor in the success of Ethan Hunt and his Impossible Missions Force (IMF) cohorts? After all, in the last movie they merely saved us from a nuclear holocaust. Was it talent, …

Review by Alvin I. Dacanay There’s a scene in Red Turnip Theater’s elegant, intellectually engaging production of Moisés Kaufman’s 33 Variations that highlights one of its central themes. In it, the main character, musicologist Katherine Brandt (Shamaine Centenera-Buencamino), discusses transfiguration—not of Christ, she quickly clarifies—as transforming something ordinary into something extraordinary, as improving a banal work and making it sublime. In …

Days after it was announced that she will hold a concert in Manila early next year, Madonna says she thinks artists deep into their careers should stop if they don’t have anything more to say. 

Review by Todd McCarthy / The Hollywood Reporter Based on an earlier teen fave novel by The Fault in Our Stars author John Green, Paper Towns is a mild coming-of-ager about dawning awareness and life lessons learned among a small group of Florida high school seniors. Part mystery story, part road movie and part pre-prom graduation romp, the film is most …

Review by Jake Coyle / The Associated Press If ever there was a sworn devotee—a chanting, face-painted worshipper—of the Big, it is Marvel.

The Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival and Competition, considered the Philippines’ leading festival of its kind, is adding a section showcasing Asian films, offering a venue for filmmakers facing censorship in other parts of Asia.

To celebrate its golden year and commemorate the establishment of the Katipunan this month, the Andres Bonifacio Concert Choir will present Andres Bonifacio: Ang Dakilang Anakpawis (Part II) on July 24 at 6:45 p.m., at the GSIS Theater, CCP (Cultural Center of the Philippines) Complex in Pasay City.

By Sarah El Deeb and Lee Keath / The Associated Press Cairo—In Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Omar Sharif first emerges as a speck in the distance in the shimmering desert sand. He draws closer, a black-robed figure on a trotting camel, until he finally dismounts, pulling aside his scarf to reveal his dark eyes and a disarming smile framed by his …