Vamos A Ver Una Pelicula!

Image taken from Click The City

For all you indie film lovers, particularly those with a fondness for Spanish and Latin American films, or those like me who have Spanish-speaking friends and significant others (hola Tricia Par!), Instituto Cervantes is celebrating its 10th year of Pelicula: Spanish Film Festival, "the biggest presentation of Spanish Cinema in Asia and the Pacific",  this October 5 to 16 at the Greenbelt 3 cinemas.

This year, the festival will be showing 17 Spanish and Latin American films, including Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu's Biutiful, starring Javier Bardem as Uxbal, a father engaged in illegal immigrant trafficking who sets out to improve the lives of his children after finding out he has terminal cancer. Bardem won Best Actor at the 2011 Goya Awards, which is the Oscars to the Spanish and Latin American speaking countries, and the film was nominated at the Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film. For the rest of the films and their schedules, head on over to www.pelicula.ph.

The festival will also highlight a special cycle of audience choice winners of previous Pelicula installments entitled "Diez años de Película (10 Years of Película)," featuring films like Alejandro Amenábar’s Mar Adentro, Isabel Coixet's La vida secreta de las palabras (The Secret Life of Words), or Nacho Vellila’s comedy Fuera de carta. 

I'm planning to see Biutiful probably on October 5 Thursday or on October 15 Saturday. Tickets are priced at 65 pesos a piece, which is very much affordable compared to the bloated ticket prices of the regular cinemas,  so let's all head on over to Greenbelt 3 Cinemas and experience the finest selection of Spanish films that Pelicula has to offer. Vamos al Cine!

*The 10th PELÍCULA Spanish Film Festival is organized by Instituto Cervantes de Manila, in cooperation with ICAA, Ministerio de Cultura of Spain, the Spanish Embassy in the Philippines, Spanish Agency International Cooperation for Development (AECID), Spanish Program for Cultural Cooperation, and the Greenbelt and Ayala Malls Cinemas.

*For more information, call 526 1482 or visit http://manila.cervantes.es or www.pelicula.ph. 

Instituto Cervantes de Manila is at 855 T.M. Kalaw St., Ermita, Manila.

New promo for The Walking Dead Season Two

Fresh off the grill, and one day after I posted a Walking Dead Season 2 trailer in this website, comes a new promo for the hit zombie TV series courtesy of IGN Entertainment. Thanks to my cousin Joshric for the scoop! 

The Walking Dead Season 2 Trailer and other Zombies in TV

Have you heard? Halloween is coming once again and unlike last year, the new season of The Walking Dead will be premiering in the States a bit earlier than Halloween, on the 16th of October to be precise.
The new season picks up from last season's cliffhanger, following the exploits of Rick Grimes and his band of survivors, with zombies on the prowl. The new season promises more zombies and more drama BUT (a really big BUT), the show now lacks creator and show runner Frank Darabont who stepped down last July 2011 and was replaced by executive producer Glen Mazzara. Hopefully, the new season sans Darabont will still feature the gripping atmosphere and blockbuster movie-like production that the first season had shown.

On a related note, check out this TVC of FedEx featuring zombies. Head on over to Budjette Tan's blog for the credits. 

Jason Mraz in Manila on October 30

This is freaking awesome!!!

Jason Mraz Live in Manila on October 30, 2011

Yep, the Geek in the Pink and Mr. Wordplay, Jason Mraz, will be coming back to Manila this October 30, 2011 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, and he brings with him Mr. Toca Rivera, his percussionist and guitarist featured in several live acoustic EPs released in the States.

Ticket prices are as follows:
Patron/Lower Box 3710
Upper Box A 2650
Upper Box B 1590
Gen. Admission 850

Get your tickets now! I already bought mine at Ticketnet, yellow gate of Araneta Coliseum besides Gloria Maris. Upper Box B and General Admission sections are free seating but keep in mind that this is an acoustic set so I guess most people would not be standing around screaming like they're in a rock concert (unless I am underestimating the Filipino Mraz fans). See you there. :D

Upper Box B tickets for me. Thanks for the tickets Papa! 

Calling Filipino Animators

I am a fan of animation and I know a lot of animation in US TV shows are made here in our country. I know that Voltron Force is animated here in Manila and that some animators and story people in Pixar are Filipinos. I love RPG Metanoia and have yet to see any of Tuldok Animation's works, but I've seen the trailers for the short films and I am hoping to get a copy soon (or you could send me copies. Yay!) I may not be an animator, but I can write and I can cover your work so to all you Filipino animators out there, post your work on YouTube and send me a link and I'll gladly feature your short films in a weekly or monthly column in this blog. Mabuhay kayo!

P.S. To Ambient Media and Thaumatrope animation, nasaan na ang RPG Metanoia DVD?!? Hope you could release it this Christmas season. 

Game of Thrones Season 2 Teaser

As the heavily edited / censored Game of Thrones TV series currently runs on our shores' HBO, the Season 2 teaser trailer pops up during the premiere of the new season of Boardwalk Empire last night, and well, as expected, there's no new info other than a new tagline. With the coming of a new season, the tagline, "The Night Is Dark and Full of Terrors" replaces the old one "Winter is Coming." Personally, winter is still coming so I don't see the need for a new tagline but that's just me, I'm just a doctor, and not a marketing executive. Hehe. 

*For those still wondering, not a single dead character from season 1 will come back in season 2. Trust me, their heads are still on the spikes on the walls of King's Landing.

EDIT: Apparently, the tagline comes from a prayer by Melisandre to her god R'hllor. Melisandre is one of the Red Priests that we will be seeing in the 2nd season. The voice in the teaser was that of Stephen Dillane, aka Stannis Baratheon. Head over to Westeros.org and HBO for more info on the show and the 2nd season.

Trese Book 4 on October 8

Comics enthusiast Jiggy Cruz has the scoop:

It's finally coming! The long awaited graphic novel, Trese 4: Last Seen After Midnight, the 4th book of the award-winning, insanely popular Trese book series by Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldissimo will be launched on October 8, 2011, 5pm at the National Bookstore Bestsellers, Robinson's Galleria, Ortigas.

Be sure to get there early; I guarantee there will be long lines as this comic book has massive readership and a dedicated hardcore fanbase that has been rabidly waiting for this release.

As for exclusives, Trese 4 will comes with a special dust jacket cover (Jiggy Cruz has the pic!) that will be available only in National Bookstores until the end of December, so save up and grab copies for yourself and of course, for sharing with your friends and families this coming Christmas.

Again, Trese Book 4 coming on October 8 at NBS Bestsellers Galleria! See you there!