unSAULicited

Fresh off the critical success of their last outing, the family comedy-drama Tribes , Red Turnip Theater is ready to take audiences into a different theater experience with the sci-fi thriller THE NETHER. Ever since making their debut four years ago, Red Turnip has already made quite the dent in the local theater scene. By sticking to their vision of producing contemporary straight plays, this young company has almost single-handedly paved the way for the straight play to find equal footing in a landscape formerly dominated by the musical. Younger companies have sprouted and followed suit and there are now more text-driven plays getting produced than ever before. Each of the Red Turnip’s eight productions has gone on to top critics’ lists and garner awards and nominations from both the Aliw and Gawad Buhay Awards, making this company the go-to for outstanding plays that both entertain and move. Their Fourth Season’s grand finale is THE NETHER, a sci-fi crime drama about the ...

After the success of the Cinema Classics at U.P. Town Center early this January, Ayala Malls Cinemas in partnership with ABS-CBN Film Restorations Group bring another round of spectacular movies from the archives that are now masterfully digitalized for better appreciation in the big screen of today. “Cinema Classics is bigger now as we hold it simultaneously at Glorietta and TriNoma to serve our north and south moviegoers. We have more choices with really well-loved films that I’m sure the fans would love again to see in the cinemas. We have One More Chance of John Lloyd Cruz and Bea Alonzo which is celebrating its 10th year this year. We have a Nora Aunor starrer, Tatlong Taon Walang Diyos celebrating its 40th year, with the Superstar’s showbiz anniversary also now at its golden year. And of course, the much-awaited premiere Hihintayin Kita Sa Langit top-billed by the classic Richard Gomez and Dawn Zulueta loveteam. There are really a lot to look forward to” says Amir V. Precilla...

UPDATE (02/28): Included list of cinemas. Responding to the fever-pitch anticipation of Hugh Jackman’s “Logan”, the most eager of cineastes who want to see it first can finally catch the movie on its midnight screenings (12:01am) set on March 1, Wednesday in Philippine theatres nationwide (check your nearest favorite theatres). Starring Hugh Jackman in the title role, “Logan” is directed by James Mangold that also stars a powerhouse of a cast that includes Patrick Stewart, Boy Holbrook, Stephen Merchant, Richard E. Grant and newcomer Dafne Keen. A standalone story that sees Jackman in the final chapter of his Wolverine alter-ego, the movie brings the iconic hero at a crossroads that will finally define his destiny. The film takes place more than 50 years after the events depicted in “X-Men: Days of Future Past” and is its own standalone tale that plays more like an intimate family journey but is also packed with high-stakes action scenes. When the film opens, Logan is in a v...

Celinda Pe De Guia of Ovation Productions proudly announces that their company will bring to Manila "SISTER ACT." This is the second presentation of a Broadway musical by Ovation Productions following Disney’s Beauty and the Beast presented at the Cultural Center of the Philippines a few years ago. The hilarious, five-time Tony-nominated musical smash hit SISTER ACT tells the story of Deloris Van Cartier, a wannabe diva whose life takes a surprising turn when she witnesses a crime and the cops hide her in the last place anyone would think to look - a convent ! Disguised as a nun, she finds herself at odds with both the rigid lifestyle and an uptight Mother Superior. Using her fabulous disco vibe and killer voice to inspire the choir, Deloris breathes new life into the church, but in doing so, blows her cover. Soon it’s nun-on-the-run time but Deloris helps her fellow sisters find their voices as she unexpectedly rediscovers her own. A sparkling tribute to the univ...

Silly People's Improv Theater (SPIT) Third World Improv and the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) present the Manila Improv Festival 2017 from March 22 to 26 at the PETA Theater Center in Quezon City. This year’s festival will feature performances by international improvisers from Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Osaka, Tokyo, Mumbai and Brisbane, and showcase Filipino improvisers from Manila, Bacolod and Cagayan de Oro. Created by Silly People’s Improv Theater (SPIT), the Manila Improv Festival (MIF) has earned an increasing following from improvisers, enthusiasts and fans from all over the world. Now on its fifth edition, the MIF has come a long way since its first run in 2004. SPIT also started the Third World Improv school in 2015, and opened its doors to anyone who would like to experience the joy of improv. This year, 16 improv groups from the Philippines are participating at the festival. This is a definitive sign of our rapidly growing improv...

Wolverine’s next of kin, Laura aka X-23 is finally revealed in “Logan,” the defining chapter in the cinematic saga of one of the greatest comic book heroes ever created from visionary writer-director James Mangold. Hugh Jackman stars in the title role, alongside Patrick Stewart (“X-Men: Days of Future Past”), Stephen Merchant, Richard E. Grant and newcomer Dafne Keen. The film is produced by blockbuster filmmakers Hutch Parker, Simon Kinberg and Lauren Shuler Donner. When the film opens, Logan is in a vulnerable and broken state, the curse of his immortality wearing heavy on him as he cares for a weakened Charles Xavier (Stewart) in a derelict smelting plant at the edge of an abandoned oil field. They’re joined there by a third mutant, Caliban (Merchant), sheltering in obscurity at a time when the world believes mutants have passed into history. But Logan’s days of drinking in relative solitude are interrupted when he finds himself the reluctant guardian of a young girl, Laura (ne...

Based on the New York Times best-selling novel, “The Shack” takes us on a father’s uplifting spiritual journey. After suffering a family tragedy, Mack Phillips (Sam Worthington) spirals into a deep depression causing him to question his innermost beliefs. Facing a crisis of faith, he receives a mysterious letter urging him to an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Despite his doubts, Mack journeys to the shack and encounters an enigmatic trio of strangers led by a woman named Papa (Octavia Spencer). Through this meeting, Mack finds important truths that will transform his understanding of his tragedy and change his life forever. Octavia Spencer, who plays Papa/God, was already a devout fan of the book and carried her own coveted copy with her on set. “I couldn’t imagine not taking this journey. My friend gave me a copy of the book and told me it had forensic thriller aspects to it, with a big surprise. I thought I was going to be reading something very different than th...

Academy Award-nominated, Golden Globe- and Tony Award-winning performer Hugh Jackman first brought his electrifying energy to the mutant known as Wolverine way back in 2000 in the film that launched the modern-day comic-book blockbuster, director Bryan Singer’s original X-Men. Since then, the acclaimed Australian actor has slipped into the skin of the world’s most famous mutant a record 10 times on the big screen. But this time, with “Logan”, Jackman had the chance to craft something truly special laying to rest his longtime screen alter ego. Highly-regarded filmmaker James Mangold helms the defining chapter in the cinematic saga of one of the greatest comic book heroes ever created in “Logan” where Jackman stars alongside Patrick Stewart (“X-Men: Days of Future Past”), Stephen Merchant, Boyd Holbrook, Richard E. Grant and newcomer Dafne Keen. “Logan” sees Hugh Jackman reprise his iconic role as The Wolverine for one, final time in a raw, powerfully dramatic standalone story of s...

A superb storyteller and a master of pacing, director Gore Verbinski, along with an impressive cast that includes Dane DeHaan, Mia Goth and Jason Isaacs creates an unsettling, ominous atmosphere throughout “A Cure for Wellness”, immersing the audience in the world of the spa, where nothing is clear or straightforward. When Lockhart (DeHaan) arrives at Volmer’s (Isaacs) sanitarium, he assumes that his mission will be simple: he will talk to Pembroke, his boss, and persuade him to come back to New York. But Pembroke doesn’t want to leave. Nobody leaves. As the plot unfolds, we experience Lockhart’s mounting anxiety. In danger of losing his sanity, whom can he trust? Lockhart agrees to undergo a course of treatment administered by the doctor and his team after his accident going back without Pembroke. Lockhart becomes friendly with Hannah (Goth) and together they set about uncovering the menacing secrets of the institute and its history. Far younger than the other patients, Hannah h...

“Brain on Fire” is the astonishing true story of a young woman’s descent into madness in the face of a medical mystery starring Chloe Grace Moretz, Thomas Mann, Carrie-Anne Moss, Richard Armitage, Jenny Slate and Tyler Perry. Based on the award-winning memoir and a New York Times bestseller, “Brain of Fire” is directed by Gerard Barrett and trails the challenges of Susannah Cahalan (Moretz), a young woman just out of university and living her dreams in New York City. She’s an up-and-coming journalist at the New York Post, and she’s falling in love with a musician named Stephen. When her boss gives her the big assignment that will jumpstart her career, things couldn’t be better. Soon little things start going wrong. Susannah gets a flu she can’t shake, she forgets things, and she misses deadlines at work. She can hear people talking about her, she’s sure that Stephen has another girlfriend, and she can’t control her body. It soon gets worse; Susannah begins having violent seizure...

From visionary director, Gore Verbinski, “A Cure for Wellness” is a chilling and mind-bending psychological thriller. Embarking on the movie, Verbinski wanted to make a thriller with the depth, insight and power of classics in the genre that he admired, such as “The Shining” (Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 film), “Don’t Look Now” (Nicolas Roeg’s 1973 film) and “Rosemary’s Baby” (Roman Polanski’s 1968 film). The idea of a quick fix cure, together with society’s malaise and the obsession with perfect health were topics that fascinated Verbinski, whose films include the hugely successful “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise and the Academy Award® winning animated film, “Rango”. Dane DeHaan stars as Lockhart in “A Cure for Wellness”, a driven Wall Street stockbroker who is sent by his firm to a remote alpine medical spa. Lockhart is on a mission to retrieve the company’s CEO, Pembroke (Harry Groener), a patient at the spa, who has told his staff that he has no intention of returning to New Yo...

Patrick Wilson, known for the phenomenal and hair-raising “The Conjuring” movies stars anew in the psychological stylish thriller “A Kind of Murder” with Jessica Biel, Haley Bennett and Vincent Kartheiser. Directed by Andy Goddard, “A Kind of Murder” is based on Patricia Highsmith’s novel “The Blunderer,” set in New York City and trails Walter Stackhouse (Wilson), a rich, successful architect and unhappily married to the beautiful but damaged Clara (Biel). To take his mind off from Clara, Walter fully embraces his favorite hobby of writing crime stories. His desire to be free of her feeds his obsession with a man suspected of brutally murdering his own wife while lusting after another woman, Ellie (Bennett, “Girl on the Train”). “A Kind of Murder” follows Highsmith’s series of highly-acclaimed book-to-movie adaptations over the past six decades. Highsmith’s novels have produced numerous successful film adaptations such as Alfred Hitchcock’s “Strangers on a Train,” Anthony Mingh...

The Film Development Council of the Philippines recognized the creativity and global achievements of recent international film festival winners during the Film Ambassadors Night 2017 held last January 31 at the FDCP Cinematheque Manila Open Grounds, T.M. Kalaw St., Ermita, Manila. Among those honored are FDCP Artistic Excellence Awardee Brillante Mendoza (“Ma’Rosa”) and Film Ambassadors Erik Matti (“Honor Thy Father”), Jun Lana and Paolo Ballesteros (“Die Beautiful”), Cesar Montano (“Nilalang”), Eduardo Roy, Jr. and Hasmine Kilip (“Pamilya Ordinaryo”), Mario Cornejo (“Apocalypse Child”), Mikhail Red (“Birdshot”), Paolo Dy (“Ignacio de Loyola”), Seymour B. Sanchez (“Caretaker”), Khavn Dela Cruz (“Alipato: The Very Brief of an Ember”), Joseph Israel Laban (“Happy New Year”), Sue Prado and Marco Felipe Villa Lopez (“The Sister”), Noriel Jarito (“Huramentado”), Vincent Soberano (“Blood Hunters”), Dominic Nuesa (“Ang Araw sa Likod”), P.R. Patindol (“Hilom”) and Bradley Liew (“Singing...

For the whole month this February, City Garden Hotel offers Couple Treats, meals plus dessert that are perfect for 2! Check out the complete menu here: Recently, I was able to taste all of the meals and here are some shots that I took of the pairings: At first, when I checked the price and the plates, I thought that it was only for one plate. Ms. Rinna, the hotel's F&B Manager, reminded me that it was actually 2 plates of each. Usually hotels would be very very expensive but based on the quality of the food, going to a hotel to eat may even be a better option than going to a restaurant at the mall. My pick would be the Salad and Sandwich. The Deconstructed Caesar Salad was a surprise because instead of bacon bits, there were longaniza bits. The best part for me was that incorporated in the dressing is Bagoong Balayan instead of anchovies. The unique kick made me finish a whole portion. :) As for the Philly Cheese Steak, I enjoyed the combination of Che...