Circle

IF A PICTURE paints a thousand words, certainly a hundred is more than enough to portray 150 years of culture?

150 Years of Photography in Spain, a traveling exhibit curated by Publio Lopez Mondejar, features 113 images of people, landscapes, and different man-made wonders that exhibited the Spanish culture of the mid-19th century up to the late 1970s and was the attraction at the National Museum last Sept. 27 to Nov. 6.

WHAT do you get when you combine punk with a touch of old school and sing it-”pinoy” style? A fresh sound that sets it apart from the Eraserheads, Teeth, and Rivermaya-inspired music of most rock groups today. The fresh act is Join The Club (JTC).

FILM adaptations of popular books seldom turn out successful. But in the case of J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic fantasy The Lord of the Rings, director Peter Jackson has skillfully translated the mystical world of Middle Earth from book to film, satisfying even the most critical of fans.

ALTHOUGH David Auburn’s Proof takes its name from a mathematical procedure, you don’t have to be a mathematician in order to appreciate the subtle beauty of the play. The Pulitzer Prize-winning play is essentially a family drama and is not loaded with heavy dialogue.

Proof is about Catherine (Lea Salonga) and her relationship with her deceased father, her sister, and her father’s protegee, Hal (Joel Trinidad).

Her natural mathematical genius and her authorship of an important mathematical proof serve as the factors that propel the plot forward.

“TO THE FILIPINO – definitely worth writing for.” This apt dedication by Australian journalist Greg Hutchinson and Malaya columnist Ellen Tordesillas of their book, Hot Money, Warm Bodies: The Downfall of Philippine President Joseph Estrada (Anvil Publishing, Inc., 2001), is a fitting introduction to the blow-by-blow account of People Power II.

Hutchinson and Tordesillas chronologically outline the details of the historic event. The book includes a biography of Estrada, the “Robin Hood” of the masa, his ascension to power and his unexpected end.

Taliwas sa unang impresyon na maaring mahinuha sa pamagat ng Yamashita, The Tiger’s Treasure, hindi lamang ito tungkol sa walang katapusang pagahahanap ng napabalitang kayamanan baskus mas malalim pa.

Mas nakatuon ito sa kung paano binalikan ng isang biktima ng panahon ng Hapon ang kanyang nakaraan at kung paano niya hinaharap ang kasalukuyan.

Kung baga sa puno, hitik sa bunga ang pelikulang Bagong Buwan ni Marilou Diaz-Abaya. At hindi maitatatwang nalunod ang kwento sa sobrang dami ng nais sabihin ng pelikula tungkol sa gyera sa Mindanao at sa matagal nang alitan ng mga Kristiyano at Muslim.

TUNGGALIAN ng kasarian at hamok ng panulat at pagtatanghal¯ito ang mga kaisipang mabubuo sa pelikulang Tatarin. Hinango mula sa maikling kuwentong Summer Solstice, na isinulat bilang isang dula ng Pambansang Alagad ng Sining para sa Panitikan na si Nick Joaquin noong 1970.

Sa direksyon ni Tikoy Aguiluz at panulat ni Ricky Lee, umiinog ang istorya ng pelikula sa araw bilang pagdiriwang sa Tatarin at kapistahan ni San Juan Bautista. Dala ng ritwal ang paniniwalang nangingibabaw ang kapangyarihan ng babae sa pamamagitan ng pagsapi ng espiritu ng Tatarin.

Maliban sa pasalita at biswal na aspekto ng pelikulang naghahayag ng kalagayan ng masang Filipino, iginuguhit ng pelikulang Hubog ang tunay na hugis ng buhay ng mga mahihirap.

Sa direksiyon ni Joel Lamangan at panulat ni Roy Iglesias, salamin ng kahirapan ang buhay ng magkapatid na sina Vanessa at Nika, ginampanan nina Assunta at Alessandra de Rossi.