Author: Jude Cartalaba

Writer-Editor-Facilitator, Creative Strategist-Marketer, Publicist and PR Practitioner. Publisher and Netrepreneur. Currently, he writes for BroadwayWorld.com Philippines and for an upcoming TV and movie guide called SYNOPSIS magazine. Apart from being a writer, he facilitates writing workshops, and does consulting for creative marketing strategies and PR work.

In every festival, like Metro Manila Film Festival, horror flicks are among the staple entries. This year’s edition, Viva Films’ DELETER, directed by Mikhail Red, is its official entry, with the award-winning actress Nadine Lustre as the lead star. Due to its dim-lit setting, one can figure out that this is a horror film. It brought me back to Carmina Villaroel-starrer’s 2019 horror film, SUNOD. Though the building may not be old, it still has its air of creepiness. It sets the dark tone in its scenes. Red’s film is about the possible effects on workers as content moderators. Its…

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After two years of not being part of the Metro Manila Film Festival, the Unkabogable Star Vice Ganda returns via the comedy flick Partners in Crime with Internet sensation Ivana Alawi in this year’s edition of the said festival. Both play the lead stars in a Cathy Garcia-Molina entry. It’s Showtime lead host is Jack Cayanan the host of the TV show, Happy Hour succumbed to having a hoarse voice. Thus, the Network had to intervene to save the show by getting a temporary replacement for him, which happened to be his former partner in providing entertainment to audiences who…

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Family Matters, the light family drama film entry to the 48th Metro Manila Film Festival, lived up to my expectations. The blockbuster tandem of filmmaker Nuel Naval and screenwriter Mel Mendoza-del Rosario could draw more crowds, especially Filipino families, during the Christmas season–the MMFF-run nationwide. The film promises relatability and has the right mixed amount of entertainment value–light drama for the Filipino family. The story that Mendoza-del Rosario penned is intimate. Moviegoers get invited to take a peek at the lives of the Florencio Family. Viewers have the front seats in witnessing every moment or mishap in the family. Naval…

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Filipino hip-hop star Skusta Clee with 200 million views on YouTube for his Dance with You hit (making it the most-viewed OPM video), will conquering the international music scene with the two-rapping heavy-weights Flow G and J. Roa. Skusta Clee will be perform along with Flow G and J. Roa to dominate the Canadian Stage this November for the Canada Filipino Hip-hop Fest 2022. Spearheaded by CEO Jovee Basilio of YY Entertainment, the tour is a series of nine shows covering cities like Calgary, Edmonton, Grande Prairie, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Toronto, Halifax, Montreal, and Vancouver. Social media influencers Angelica Jane Yap…

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The former member and one of the lead vocalists of the musical trio The APO Hiking Society, Danny Javier died on Monday, October 31.  In real life, he’s Daniel “Danny” Morales Javier and is 75 years of age. His daughter Justine Javier Long confirmed the news on Facebook, Monday, saying he died from “complications due to his prolonged illnesses.” He’s a Filipino singer-songwriter, musician, actor, television host, and a businessman. He sang along with his singing buddies Boboy Garrovillo and Jim Paredes.  Javier’s daughter, Justine wrote: “In life, as in his death, our Pop never stopped fighting for what he…

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“Miss USA is Texas!” the host announced on Tuesday (Philippine time), October 3, at Grand Sierra Resort, Reno, Nevada, besting 50 other candidates on the finals night of the 71st edition of the said beauty pageant.  The 28-year-old fashion designer, Filipino-American R’Bonney Gabriel won the Miss USA 2022 crown, she is to represent the country in the 71st Miss Universe pageant in January 2023 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Gabriel is one of the early favorites to win the title. View this post on Instagram A post shared by R’Bonney Nola (@rbonneynola) She graduated from the University of North…

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The comedian-host-and talent manager Ogie Diaz set a virtual date for his followers and [even] all online users this Saturday, September 24, via his THE OGIE DIAZ show from 7 to 9 PM on his Facebook page. Does this mean that Diaz is giving Willie Revillame a competition in giving away cash prizes?  “Magkaiba naman kami. Ang pareho sa amin, nagpapasaya ng mga tao. Nag enjoy na, nanalo pa. Saka beterano na sa ganyan si Kuya Will, ako starting pa lang. “Sa panahon ngayon, parang nakakalungkot na wala nang halaga ang piso o limang piso, pero sa BingoPlus app, may…

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Part of Humanist Alliance Philippines, International’s (HAPI) advocacy is taking on the torch to continue championing human rights, particularly that of the LGBTQIA+ community, by holding a series of comprehensive activities celebrating Pride Month from the 4th to the 30th day of June. HAPI is partnering with local and national organizations like Unitarian Universalist (UU) LGBTQIA+ Fellowship. On June 28, the first-ever Holy Union Ceremony for LGBT couples with a three-day honeymoon retreat for the participants, sponsored by UU LGBTQIA Fellowship in Dumaguete. Rev. Tet Gallardo will officiate the rites. LGBTQIA couples may register via http://tiny.cc/PrideUnions2022. On June 30, UU LGBTQIA Fellowship will also host a first-of-its-kind Affirmations Ceremony at Dakong Balay…

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Nick Daez, brother of commercial model-actor-Kapuso news anchor-and-vlogger, Mikael Daez is charged with ‘Habeas Corpus’ and Custody on Friday, February 11 at the Court of Appeals in Manila. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Nick Daez (@nickdaez) The older brother of Mikael, real name, Rafael Francisco “Nick” Daez, a.k.a. “Nicky,”, is known to be a meditation and breathwork coach, nomadic entrepreneur, kundalini yoga, and sound healer “dealing with anxiety and stress”. Nick is allegedly involved with the wife of a young independent filmmaker and advertising director, Carl Angelo Ruiz.  Daez, along with Ruiz’s wife, Mikaela…

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The Diamond Star, Maricel Soriano continues to luster even if she’s already in her 50s. Last year, she celebrated her 50th anniversary in show business–and what better way to highlight her status as one of the Philippines’ iconic stars is her inclusion in a Hollywood romantic-comedy film, Re-Live: A Tale of an American Island Cheerleader. In an article from Variety.com, dated Saturday, January 22, Soriano got picked to star in Rain Valdez’s upcoming trans-led flick.  Previously reported, the film co-writers Rachel Leyco and Valdez will star as sisters Rochelle and Rowena, respectively. Soriano, on the other hand, will assume their mother, Thelma.  Soriano, in…

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As confirmed by the Hollywood Reporter on Monday, January 24, Ivory Aquino, a Fil-Am transgender will be Alysia Yeoh, the best friend of Barbara Gordon, a.k.a. Batgirl, the masked hero played by Leslie Grace. The buzz of Aquino’s casting got speculated online after the Batgirl lead star Grace shared a photograph of the two of them via an Instagram story earlier this month. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ivory Aquino (@msivoryaquino) The Deadline confirmed it first officially about the news on Aquino coming on board the cast. The Batgirl will debut on HBO Max…

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As days and the world is getting older–so as people evolve as well. Brillante Ma Mendoza’s SISID is a film that could reflect what humans have become these days. Love cannot be love if there is no tolerance. Perhaps that’s what the filmmaker is simply trying to tell today’s audience. Judging on how the approach of the film’s storytelling, it’s not formulaic, but it retains elements that sell to the old or young moviegoers. It is unfair to [totally] accuse Filipino films of having low quality versus Hollywood franchise films like Marvel-centered superhero flicks. Filipino filmmakers can concoct mind-boggling stories…

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Since I had a limited time and the only available Metro Manila Film Festival 2022 entry showing at Shangri-La cinema at the time–I settled with Love at First Stream. In the first few minutes of the film, I got bored, but somewhere around a scene where the character of Agot Isidro had a clash with her daughter Vilma (Daniela Stranner). who among the Generation Zs–is the one who dropped out of school and didn’t finish high school. Her contemporaries like Gino (Jeremiah Lisbo), Megumi (Kaori Oinima), and Tupe (Anthony Jennings). Vilma may have an ambition, but it’s driven out of…

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Dharna (Christian Bables) is not the Darna that most Filipinos knew from the Mars Ravelo creation. The Jun Robles Lana film, Big Night won the Best Picture in the recently concluded Gabi ng Parangal of the 47th edition of Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) is a deeper look at the country’s extra-judicial killings (EJKs). Bables’s Dharna is reminiscent of BB Gandanghari’s character Ada in Zsazsa Zaturnnah Ze Moveeh. Though without any secret superpowers and has no alterego–he is still one hero to his family until he got stuck with the wrong network. He has two other gay brothers Vholtra and…

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The Carlo Francisco Manatad disaster-themed drama film that chose to use Waray-Waray as its medium of its dialogues–may have settled the second-best picture in the recently concluded 47th edition of the Metro Manila Film Festival’s Gabi ng Parangal; but its Gatpuno Antonio J. Villegas Cultural award is enough proof that it is worth watching in cinemas. From the 23 awards at stake during the annual awards night, Kun Maupay Man it Panahon (Whether the Weather Is Fine) takes pride in the film’s seven wins, including Charo Santos-Concio’s best actress and Rans Rifol’s best-supporting actress, respectively. Manatad’s depiction of the 2013…

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Film entries–Big Night, Kun Maupay Man it Panahon, and A Hard Day brought home most of the awards at the recently concluded 47th Metro Manila Film Festival’s Gabi ng Parangal on Monday evening of December 27 at the Samsung Hall of SM Aura, Taguig, Metro Manila. There were a total of 23 awards given away by the MMFF 2021 organizers. Christian Bables nabbed the best actor award for his performance in the film, Big Night. Kun Maupay Man it Panahon’s Charo Santos-Concio earned the best actress award. Jun Robles Lana walked away with the best director award for the film,…

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