WFP And USAID Hold Second National Forum On Disaster Preparedness and Response

Disaster Preparedness and Response (DPR) took centre stage this week as 150 delegates from national government, provincial, city, and municipal local government units (LGUs), academic institutions, and non-government organizations (NGOs) assembled for a national forum organized by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the United States Agency for International Development’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA). This year’s national forum – the second of its kind – focused on the achievements and challenges of DPR practitioners and setting directions for the next year.

The Curtain Rises for The Theatre at Solaire!

Solaire Resort and Casino announces the opening of THE THEATRE at Solaire this November; a new state-of-the-art, certified lyric theatre in the heart of Entertainment City. This majestic performance venue boasts of an astronomical line-up of performance artists and events; both local and international, in the months to come.

THE THEATRE at Solaire opens its doors for the holidays with the first International Broadway show CHICAGO from December 2 to 21, 2014. This spectacular opening and amazing entertainment line-up for The Theatre signifies the continuance of Solaire’s contribution to the flourishing arts and performance scene in the Entertainment City.

@SolaireResort | #SolaireChicago

Visit solaireresort.com for details

REEL DEAL: Hollywood's Unsettling Side In “THE CANYONS”

“The Canyons” starring Lindsay Lohan is a contemporary thriller written by Bret Easton Ellis (“Less Than Zero,” “American Psycho”) directed by Paul Schrader (“Taxi Driver,” “Raging Bull,” “Affliction,” “Auto-Focus”)and producer Braxton Pope,  “The Canyons” documents five twenty-something's quest for power, love, sex and success set in the year 2012 in Hollywood.  The filmmakers partly financing the film themselves through Pope’s new company Sodium Fox in order to maintain complete creative control of the distinct source material.  According to Schrader, “We all experienced the frustrations of financing and institutional censorship. But now, with advances in digital photography and distribution, we can tell a story in the manner we choose. Movies are changing and we’re changing with it.” 

REEL DEAL: All Crime Is Legal One NIght A Year In “THE PURGE: ANARCHY”

In 2013, the world responded to the provocative concept that on one night every year, any and all crime is made legal. Audiences turned “The Purge” into a surprise summer hit as the film debuted at No. 1 with an astonishing $34.1 million weekend at the domestic box office.

After witnessing the response to the film and listening to the conversations that it provoked, James Demonaco (writer/director of “The Purge”) quickly returned to the explosive universe that he created with an even more arresting idea for a sequel: placing the audience outside on the streets during the annual Purge.

REEL DEAL: The Characters of “PLANES: FIRE & RESCUE” Far From Plain, Simple Folks

It all begins when world-famous air racer Dusty Crophopper (voice of Dane Cook) returns to hometown Propwash Junction after another victorious racing season. The former crop duster revels in his new career success until a fateful training run changes his course with a career-ending injury. The incident sets into motion a series of events that threatens the future of Dusty’s hometown.

Forced to shift gears, he decides to train with the Aerial Fire Fighters at Piston Peak Air Attack Base as a Single Engine Air Tanker (SEAT). The heroic, often life-threatening efforts involved are admirable—but seemingly impossible to master—particularly if you’re a crop duster-turned-racer with an injury that can’t be ignored, in Disneytoon's new aerial adventure “Planes: Fire & Rescue.”

REEL DEAL: “LUCY” Disarms Hard-To-Please Critics WIth Intentive Thrills

“The summer’s coolest, juiciest, smartest action movie.” This is how respected film critic Richard Corliss of Time Magazine, describes Universal Pictures' action-thriller “Lucy” from director Luc Besson and starring Scarlett Johansson.

“This female-glorifying picture not only shames all PG-13-rated summer spectacles for their wimpitude but also lures the audience into accompanying it on a third-act trip of ambitious movie madness,” continues Corliss in his review. “It begins with a vision of the first known hominid, the 3 million-year-old female discovered in Ethiopia in 1974 and nicknamed Lucy, then bombards you with allusive montages and the intricate drizzle of computer algorithms, and ultimately spirals into transcendent, Kubrickian speculation, all while satisfying the basic movie appetite for twists and thrills.”

REEL DEAL: “GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY” Rockets To 4-Day Gross Of P104M To Claim No. 1

The heroic misfits of the universe took the Philippine box-office by storm as Marvel's “Guardians of the Galaxy” opened at No. 1 nationwide with an otherworldly gross of P104-M in just four days (July 31 to Aug. 3). This was announced today by a spokesman of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International which distributed the film.

Capitalizing on solid reviews and positive word-of-mouth, "Guardians" built on its P15.94-M opening day gross July 31 to achieve the sixth-biggest opening of the year, making it ahead of recent blockbusters “Godzilla” and “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.”

REEL DEAL: Disney's “INTO THE WOODS” Reveals Teaser Trailer

The teaser trailer for Disney's highly anticipated film version of “Into the Woods” has just been revealed online and may be viewed here at http://youtu.be/me2tvvqDVHc.

“Into the Woods” is a modern twist on the beloved Brothers Grimm fairy tales, intertwining the plots of a few choice stories and exploring the consequences of the characters’ wishes and quests. This humorous and heartfelt musical follows the classic tales of Cinderella (Anna Kendrick), Little Red Riding Hood (Lilla Crawford), Jack and the Beanstalk (Daniel Huttlestone), and Rapunzel (MacKenzie Mauzy)—all tied together by an original story involving a baker and his wife (James Corden & Emily Blunt), their wish to begin a family and their interaction with the witch (Meryl Streep) who has put a curse on them.

“ALEXANDER AND THE TERRIBLE” Reveals Wacky Before And After Posters

Disney has just shared the wacky, before-and-after payoff posters of “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day,” the first live-action film adaptation of Judith Viorst’s 1972 illustrated children’s classic.

Steve Carell (“The Way, Way Back,” “Little Miss Sunshine” ) and Jennifer Garner (“Dallas Buyers Club, “Juno”) star as Alexander’s upbeat parents. The veteran performers are joined in the film by a trio of young talents that includes 16-year-old Dylan Minnette (“Lost,” “Prisoners”) as Alexander’s older brother, Anthony; 15-year-old Kerris Dorsey (“Moneyball”) as sister Emily; and 12-year-old Australian native Ed Oxenbould (Oz TV’s “Puberty Blues”), who makes his big-screen feature debut as the film’s title character, Alexander.

Disney’s “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day” follows the exploits of 11-year-old Alexander (Oxenbould) as he experiences the most terrible and horrible day of his young life—a day that begins with gum stuck in his hair, followed by one calamity after another. But when Alexander tells his upbeat family about the misadventures of his disastrous day, he finds little sympathy and begins to wonder if bad things only happen to him. He soon learns that he’s not alone when his mom (Garner), dad (Carell), brother (Minnette) and sister (Dorsey) all find themselves living through their own terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. Anyone who says there is no such thing as a bad day just hasn't had one.

Opening across the Philippines on Oct. 15, 2014, “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day” is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International through Columbia Pictures.

MUSIC LYF: Hilary Duff signed recording deal with RCA Records

Her first single “Chasing the Sun”, written by Colbie Caillat, Jason Reeves and Toby Gad and produced by Toby Gad, is now available at all digital music providers on July 29th. The music video for “Chasing the Sun” earned already over 11 Million views on VEVO.

Says Duff, “I couldn't be more excited to join the RCA family!  I love my team there and feel so lucky to be in the company of their talented artists. I came to them with my vision for the album and it has been a real labor of love, but something I am so proud of. ‘Chasing The Sun’ is just a peek into my new album. I've worked very hard and the album is a great representation of the experiences I've had in my life and where I want to go from here!”