Entertainment

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 …

By Ma. Cristina C. Arayata / Philippines News Agency It was that time of the year again when legislators, their wives and other government officials walked the red carpet to listen to President Benigno Aquino III’s State of the Nation Address (Sona)—his last—last Monday. Who do you think was the most fashionable?

The Writer’s Bloc, an independent group of emerging and established playwrights headed by acclaimed dramatist Rody Vera, is inviting interested parties to attend its regular reading sessions of new plays every other Sunday afternoon, starting August 9.

Looking for the ideal, hassle-free option for your lunch break or luncheon meeting? Eastwood Richmonde Hotel’s (ERH) The Lounge offers that to you. Keeping the needs of busy business people in mind, The Lounge’s Executive Meal was created to be uncomplicated, delectable, satisfying and worth your money.

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 …

By Hillel Italie / The Associated Press New York—Eighty years after the release of Green Hills of Africa, the son and grandson of Ernest Hemingway are urging a fresh look at a work critics have often set aside.