‘Kalel, 15’: Fusion of disturbing themes in must-see HIV drama
There’s good reason why Jun Lana won the best director prize for “Kalel, 15” at this year’s Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in Estonia. For any filmmaker with less skill and experience, it would...
View ArticlePenn Badgley on why PH fans need to watch Season 2 of ‘You’
Penn Badgley prefers to let his work speak for itself. “I don’t think it’s right for actors to discuss [the merits of a film or TV show with its audience]—I don’t think wit’s the right thing to do,”...
View ArticleHeartwarming surprises in Lea’s Christmas concert
You won’t find a more potent musical combination than Christmas carols and Lea Salonga’s prodigious voice. And nothing could be clearer proof for this than the singer’s holiday concert series “The...
View ArticleMMFF 2019: Unexpected hits, befuddling misses
Through the years, we’ve always let the vacuous content (“Fantastica”) and neuron-decimating titles (“Gandarrapiddo: The Revenger Squad”) of Vice Ganda’s Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) entries slide...
View ArticleGerald not resting on his laurels in 2020
The year 2019 was very kind to former “Pinoy Pop Superstar” champ Gerald Santos. But the singer-actor, who played Thuy in the UK and international production of “Miss Saigon” and Anthony in the Manila...
View ArticleHow ‘The Witcher’ showrunners turned 3,000 pages of material into an 8-part...
How did “The Witcher” make its jump from page to screen? On her recent visit to Manila for the show’s promo blitz in Asia, showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich shared with Inquirer Entertainment in this...
View ArticleMind-boggling thriller, polarizing drama fuel HBO’s auspicious start for 2020...
Two provocative drama series are set to launch the new year in high gear for viewers of HBO and HBO Asia. “The Outsider,” based on Stephen King’s acclaimed 2018 horror-mystery novel, and the searing...
View ArticleChristopher Gorham on working with Gloria Diaz
If you’re a TV junkie, it’d be hard for you not to remember seeing Christopher Gorham in a lot of TV shows. “Yes, there’s been a lot,” the 45-year-old actor told us beaming when we met him in the...
View Article‘Avenue 5’: Space tourists get lost laughing ‘into the unknown’
Getting stuck in outer space is no laughing matter. But in HBO’s 30-minute, eight-episode comedy series “Avenue 5,” Hugh Laurie and company are putting a fresh comedic spin on the bleak and dreary...
View ArticleBizarre ‘Cats’ is far from ‘purr-fect’
We’ve never been fond of Andrew Lloyd Weber’s “Cats,” often singled out by musical-theater aficionados for its lavish sets and costumes, vibrant choreography and catchy musical recall. But where...
View Article‘Jojo Rabbit,’ ‘The Farewell’ mine dark themes to comedic perfection
Lulu Wang’s “The Farewell,” starring Golden Globe best actress Awkwafina, draws humor from a Chinese-American family’s inability to cope with a cancer-stricken loved one’s impending death. On the other...
View ArticleOdette Quesada revisits her hit-making legacy in homecoming concert
(First of 2 parts) It’s been 19 years since Odette Quesada, the seasoned singer-songwriter behind such OPM classics as “Don’t Know What to Say (Don’t Know What to Do),” “Till I Met You” and “To Love...
View ArticleOdette Quesada revisits hit-making legacy in homecoming concert (Conclusion)
When Odette Quesada performs in “Hopeless Romantic,” the 55-year-old singer-songwriter’s homecoming concert at the Maybank Performing Arts Theater tomorrow and on Saturday, she’ll be sharing the stage...
View Article‘Mia’: Rom-com with a cause a career-boosting showcase for Coleen Garcia
Veronica Velasco’s “Mia” teaches viewers a thing or two about the indispensability of compromise in the things we feel passionate about—from those involving loved ones who live by dissenting views, to...
View ArticleBrad’s impeccable comedic timing
Last Sunday (Monday in Manila), the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards didn’t just pick credible choices—Joaquin Phoenix (for “Joker”), Renee Zellweger (“Judy”), Brad Pitt (“Once Upon a Time in...
View ArticleJustice denied
Escalating crime figures are often seen as an indictment of society’s inability to make people see right from wrong, especially at a period in time shrouded by moral ambiguity. But there’s never any...
View ArticleMore soporific than scary
Yam Laranas’ “Nightshift” is as much a supernatural thriller as it is a soporific viewing experience. Even its lead character, newly hired morgue assistant Jessie Pardo (Yam Concepcion), is always seen...
View ArticleCompelling conflict for ‘Bad Boys’ sequel
Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, nor hell a fury like a woman scorned. This couldn’t be truer than the conflict that cogently gives Will Smith and Martin Lawrence’s “Bad Boys for Life”...
View ArticleDowney’s ‘endgame’ with animals quickly goes to the dogs
Each of Guy Ritchie’s “The Gentlemen” and Stephen Gaghan’s “Dolittle” tells its story with the help of a star-studded cast, led by actors who can turn on the charm when needed. But as the films’ mixed...
View ArticleCharacter, clever comedy take the wheel in star-studded actioner
You won’t see anything new in Guy Ritchie’s star-studded action-comedy “The Gentlemen,” but its brash, bold and breezy development will keep viewers entertained. As noted by some observers, the...
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