REEL DEAL: Trance SPOTLIGHT

DIRECTOR DANNY BOYLE: HEAD-SPINNING HEIST IN “TRANCE”

Academy-Award winner Danny Boyle brings together James McAvoy, Rosario Dawson and Vince Cassel in a stirring ensemble performance in the mind-bending action thriller “Trance.”

Boyle, whose worldwide acclaimed works “Slumdog Millionaire,” “Shallow Grave,” “Trainspotting” and “127 Hours” that covered themes such as triumph of the human spirit despite abject poverty and reality brings a new kind of thrill in “Trance.” Boyle crafts a wildly twisted mind puzzle exploring identity, madness and perception using the altered state of hypnotic trance. 

Gus* Studio Manila's Trade-in Trade-Up Promo

Planning to change or get new furniture for you home? You can check out Gus* Studio Manila's Trade-in Trade-Up Promo for 2013! Great deals plus each purchase will also help Habitat for Humanity! Check out the details and mechanics here:

Trade-in Trade-Up Promo Mechanics:

Promo Period is from January 16, 2013 to April 15, 2013.

To avail of the promo, clients must make their trade-in and purchase during the promo period.

Clients may trade-in their old furniture at Gus* Studio Manila and get an instant 25% discount on any Gus* furniture purchase listed as eligible Trade-up item under the promo.

All Trade-in Items will be forwarded and donated to Habitat for Humanity Philippines.

Clients participating in the Trade-In, Trade-Up campaign shall be issued a Certificate of Appreciation for their donation to Habitat for Humanity Philippines.

The following item categories may be traded-in for the promo: Sofas, Dining Tables, Dining Chairs, Lounge Chairs, Arm Chairs, Coffee/Center Tables, Side Tables, Beds and Storage Cabinets.

SM Supermalls Celebrates Easter with Carnival-themed Party

Customers who will troop to any SM mall nationwide this coming Easter Sunday, March 31, will be treated to various fun activities for the whole family as SM Supermalls holds a grand celebration dubbed “Easter Carnival”. SM malls are especially decorated for sight-seeing and photo opportunities, with giant Easter installations available for the public to enjoy. 

One of the highlights of the Easter Carnival includes “Circus Fun”, which features a circus show with magical acts and performances by clowns. There will also be a grand parade of mascots and  a costume contest where kids can play dress-up with their cutest, most colorful and wackiest Easter costumes to get a chance to win cool prizes. Egg-hunting tradition will be held through “Eggstream Hunt” in select SM malls. Another interesting event to watch out for is the “Easter Fair” where booths will be set up for fun activities and food that kids will enjoy, such as hotdogs, popcorn, ice cream, and many others. Activities include face painting, balloon twisting and egg painting. 

Tropicana Coco Quench kicks off summer in Boracay

Green is definitely the color of summer, as Tropicana Coco Quench, the first locally produced coconut water in a Tetra Pak packaging, ushers in the summer season at TripAdvisor’s 2013 Best Asian Beach, Boracay.

Right at the glistening white and powdery shores of the island, Tropicana Coco Quench will be holding several activities that will take off on March 27 through the 31st.  Selling and redemption booths are scattered along the three stations, and with a strong push for recycling products, Tropicana Coco Quench will give out essential summer items in exchange for empty Tetra Pak packages.

March 30 marks the Green Saturday event, which will start with Yoga wellness morning with renowned instructor, Louise Lee. There will be a sunset happy hour with overflowing coconut water, and a chill out party to cap off the night, all happening at the beachfront of Obama Grill.

REEL DEAL: The Internship

LATEST TRAILER SHOWS 40-YEAR-OLD GOOGLE INTERNS @ “THE INTERNSHIP”

Hollywood-Based Filipino Actor Tobit Raphael Included in Cast With Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn

Nick (Owen Wilson) and Billy (Vince Vaughn) battle it out with the techies in “The Internship” as two old-school salesmen in their 40s who use old fashioned charm and brilliant sales technique to sell watches. On the night that they try to close a big sale with a client, to their shock, they find that their company has been shut down because kids don’t wear watches anymore. Suddenly, they find themselves unemployed as two dinosaurs in the digital world.

After an exhaustive job search online, Billy chanced upon an opportunity for them to reinvent themselves – an internship program with Google.

XSTIG: Perk up your summer with Toshiba’s “Easter Bundle” promotion

Perk up the summer months with Toshiba’s “Easter Bundle” promotion featuring the brand’s latest line of notebook PC products. Customer gets a variety of free items that goes with their every purchase of selected Toshiba notebook PC products like Toshiba Canvio Basic 500GB External Hard Disk Drive, D-Link Wireless-N300 Cloud Router and gift vouchers worth up to Php 2,000 which can be used to select a choice of freebies or accessories inside a participating Toshiba store for free. Hurry! Avail of this exciting Easter offer only from Toshiba. Visit Toshiba Concept Stores located at SM Megamall, SM North Edsa, SM Pampanga, SM Sta. Rosa, SM City Cebu and Abreeza Mall Davao and other participating retail shops nationwide. Offer is good until April 9, 2013 only.

REEL DEAL: Oblivion SPOTLIGHT

OBLIVION : a cinematic event, a journey of redemption and discovery as one man battles to save mankind.

by Emy Abuan

In 2073, a 37 year-old former-Marine Commander Jack Harper (Tom Cruise) is one of the last few drone repairmen stationed at Earth which was nearly destroyed by an alien invasion 60 years ago. As part of a massive operation to extract the planet's remaining vital resources, he lives in an airborne "town" floating thousands of meters above the Earth.

His mission nearly complete, Jack's soaring existence comes crashing down when he rescues a 22 year-old female stranger from a downed spacecraft. Her arrival triggers a series of events that forces Jack to question everything he knows about the war and its aftermath. In addition, after being captured by an insurgency led by 102 year-old Malcolm Beech (Morgan Freeman), Jack is told that the society in which he lives may in fact be a police state.

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL adapts Bill O’Reilly’s best-selling book on Lincoln assassination

Tackling a monumental event in American history, National Geographic Channel’s first original scripted drama “Killing Lincoln”, based on the best-selling book by controversial political commentator and TV personality Bill O’Reilly, will hit Philippine television on April 14, 2013. The film portrays the dramatic events that led up to the assassination of US President Abraham Lincoln in 1865 and reveals the mysterious motivations of its perpetrator John Wilkes Booth.

“Killing Lincoln” is a film produced by Ridley and Tony Scott’s Scott Free Productions and written by the Emmy Award-winning Erik Jendresen, writer for the acclaimed TV series “Band of Brothers”, who based his script on the book Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination That Changed America Forever co-written by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard. “What people never knew, and what both the book and the film capture, is the great tale of action and conspiracy surrounding the manhunt for Booth. It is ultimately a fascinating story, and that’s what makes it the perfect fit for us at Scott Free,” said Scott.

Highlands Coffee Opens in Eton Emerrald

Coffee lovers rejoice! As the Vietnamese Coffee brand Highlands Coffee is expanding their business here in the Philippines, they are also on a roll with opening new stand alone branches in key areas in Metro Manila, and today they have opened a new branch in the busy Ortigas district which is also a big market for coffee shops.

Highlands Coffee opened its first store in Lucky Chinatown Mall with Netopia and have partnered with different stores and restaurants. They also have opened stand alone store like the one in E. Rodriguez near St. Lukes Medical Center. And the latest one opened with Eton Emerald in Ortigas.

GMA Network proudly welcomes Christian Bautista

March 20, 2013 (Quezon City, Philippines), Multi-platinum artist Christian Bautista signed an exclusive contract with GMA Network Inc.

Present in the contract signing were GMA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Felipe L. Gozon, GMA President and Chief Operating Officer Gilberto R. Duavit, Jr., OIC for Entertainment Lilybeth G. Rasonable, and Christian’s manager Carlo Orosa.

Being welcomed by the GMA executives, Christian feels very privileged and excited about this new chapter in his life, “It’s wonderful! Bagong taon, bagong makakatrabaho at bagong bahay. I feel very welcomed and very honoured na nandito na ako ngayon. With all the projects I’m doing, it’s gonna be fun!”

Carlo is looking forward towards a bright future for Christian in GMA. “We feel the warmth and sincerity of their welcome,” he adds.