Feisty Femme Scenes Seen on Brillante Mendoza's PALITAN

Man meets woman, fall in love, get married, have children, that seems to be the norm. A few nights ago, we had the chance to see Cannes Best Director Brillante Mendoza's latest film "PALITAN" under Viva Films, meant to be shown on their platform VIVAMAX.

The film stars GMA's Luis Hontiveros, Rash Flores, Cara Gonzales and Jela Cuenca. It talks about marriage, its intricacies, and why one should know the one you're marrying. Brillante did this Girls Love themed film with subtlety, you can feel the need for shock value at first then give you reasons why you would root for the ladies that wanted to be together. It fits on the premise that it'll never work because of societal issues you would face, including religion, and their own existing relationships.

The ladies Cara Gonzales and Jela Cuenca did not hold back on their scenes as they needed to to fill a void of not seeing each other for years. They kept the feelings, understood the hunger which is why I called this film pretty feisty. Luis and Rash on the other hand are your hetero male dose that don't even need to over act machismo, they're ones that could convey confusion, friendship, lust and disappointment in several acts. You will be taken to their place, understand why they would react that way and in some instances, feel what they feel in the movie. 

A Brillante Mendoza work of course had a sense of reality. Think of it as something that Filipinos won't be talking about on a regular day as it also showed hetero, femme, and group scenes that tells their gender, social construct, no matter what their biological assignment tells them to do. As you may probably know, this would be for a matured audience. They're already thinking of putting this as an entry into LGBT themed festivals as it's pretty late to do so for some of the festivals Brillante Mendoza has joined already. It's also a really nice place to showcase the caliber of Viva artists who are part of this film, at a very international and artsy caliber. Needless to say, I'm impressed with this latest Brillante Mendoza masterpiece and he's slated to do three this year and a couple more next year (a lot in the pipeline) but they're generally mum about it til it happens.

This film will start streaming on the VIVAMAX app come December 10 so make sure you download it off Google Play or the App Store and subscribe to watch a lot of other movies from their library and this film called PALITAN. Here's part of the presscon we had with them prior to screening.

 Congratulations to Direk Brillante MA Mendoza, Viva Films and VivaMax because you've got a really bravely depicted movie in your hands with this one!

LESHA Outs Intriguing Track ELEVEN:ELEVEN

Something interesting is happening before the year ends for fast rising electro pop artist Lesha. I don't know if it's a Filipino thing, but there's often a wish involved when 11:11 strikes the clock in this part of the world.

Lesha is no stranger to that and she does whisper and ask for something when that happens, they call it angel number. She sees this as a way to manifest things like those involved about love, career, life and other opportunities. She's at that point of asking what the universe wants to happen next.

For those who don't know, she's about to step into the international stage and want to introduce Filipino music through a collab album, and a world tour of sorts. This will be under Lauv or Fenneas label AWAL. Her latest track ELEVEN:ELEVEN will be released in the album SUN MOON RISING which we have featured a few months back. She bids this as a special one since nobody worked on it but her, and it reminded her of her self worth, blessed and far from places of negativity.

This track feels authentic and she's made it to fit that way even if she's had other genres that she's worked with. She continues to work on her music to this day, to eventually be the unique catalyst so she remained true to herself and her listeners. SUN MOON RISIN is going to be released in early next year, but has been done digitally this December. This hopefully turns out good for her especially when there's not stopping Lesha and go places. Go ahead and see YouTube.com/Lesha for more details.

Coca-Cola Shows You Real Magic

Truth be told, we have history with Coca-Cola. This Christmas season, they're starting to tell us about community and togetherness, called aptly as "Buksan ang Magic ng Pasko".

This reminds us of the connections we make, with family, friends, with others. The human connection, the friendships we make, the community we help especially during the holidays in the country. Each time we go have a meal together, ending a plate of your favorite meal includes that fizzy, sharp and caramel like end which comes with a glass of coke. Coca-Cola's Marketing Director Cesar Gangoso says "Our Christmas has changed a bit in the past two years, but Coca-Cola has remained a part of everyone's story.

For them, magic is everywhere. You maybe alone, or in grandiose celebrations, or making memories while sharing with people we love dearly. The connections remain the same. Check out this video they've made for you.

 

By the way, this is just the star because they're having a lot of activities this holiday season. It's time you celebrate the #PaskongCocaCola you've always done through the years. It's not to late to reconnect, establish that magic once again inside your homes. Check the Coca-Cola Philippines Facebook page for more information about it.

Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar Bestowed Best Historic Hotel Award

Bagac, Bataan's pride Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar has just been given the Best Historic Hotel in Asia and the Pacific award by the Historic Hotels Worldwide Awards of Excellence. They have bested over 300 hotels and resorts around the world. Finalists include Deogarh Mahal Rajasthan, Raffles Singapore, Beijing Hotel NUO, Raffles Grand Hotel D'Angko, The Fullerton Hotel in Singapore and The Murray Hong Kong. This comes no surprise with the amount of work that they've put in property that's gotten to preserve, maintain the historic integrity, the architecture and overall ambiance.

Ceremonies were done at The American Club Resort Hotel in Kohler, Wisconsin last November 11 wherein attendees include industry professionals, managers, owners and representatives from different historic hotels from different corners of the world. Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar's very own Jose "Jerry" Acuzar has accepted the award with a video message shown to the crowd. In it he sent thanks to the nominations committee for recognizing their work at Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar since its inception. He puts this as really good support for the importance of preserving heritage and restoring it to its former or even better glory. He also has dedicated the ward for the skilled builders, artisans and those who have researched extensively about the different heritage homes and the craftsmen and women in the property. Mr. Acuzar was lauded and appropriately called a "visionary" by executives.

He says "Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar was made for my love of family, of my hometown Bataan and the Philippines. This is my way of showing gratitude to my country and its people."

If you want to know more about them, visit lascasasfilipinas.com today.