dear visitor/reader,

this is a filler post. i’ve been trying to re-post my entry on “Emma” and kept ending up with weird results — it keeps on messing up my other posts. this is a diagnostic entry (while i try to figure out what’s causing this snafu). please ignore this and proceed to the next post…

(25 minutes later…)

aaaarrgggh! no matter what i do, that post on Emma just won’t work properly — which leaves me no option but to leave it off for a while. sorry, sheng and kayni — i’ll try to re-post your comments later, as soon as i can work this out. (ay caramba!)

thanks for your patience,
onyxx

local music fans and concertgoers, brace yourself for a month-long deluge of concerts *applause*. several musical artists (both foreign and local) are slated to hold a series of concerts here in the coming month, so if you have lots of cash and time to spare, take note of the following dates.

march 7 (the eraserheads)
this date was described as “tentative” by concert organizers, but it looks like it has firmed up because there has been no announced reschedules so far. barring any mishaps (*fingers crossed*) the eraserheads‘ “The Reunion Concert 2: The Final Set” will take place in Mall of Asia’s concert grounds (capacity: 32,000). Ticket prices range from P300 to P5000 and the concert date falls on a saturday, so this gig would be fairly easy to get into — aside from the fact that this long-awaited E-heads concert ranks as one of those must-be-there event that you simply can’t miss.

march 11 (natalie cole)
share “An Unforgettable Evening” with natalie cole on march 11th (wednesday) at the araneta coliseum. the show, which will start at 8:00pm, will showcase some of of ms. cole’s best-known songs and several of her father’s more popular hits (Inseparable, Route 66) as well as their ‘duet’ (Unforgettable). if you have well-lined pockets and dig the classics, this show will be right up your alley. Tickets start from around P1500 and could go as high as P10,000.

march 14 (journey)
finally, we get to see local-guy-made-good arnel pineda strut his stuff as Journey’s frontman. arnel and the rest of Journey (neal s., ross v., jonathan c., and deen c.), a popular US-based rock band, will be also performing at the Mall of Asia concert grounds on the 14th, which fortunately falls on a saturday. ticket prices range from roughly P500 to P10,300. (*ouch!*) Journey’s hit singles include well-loved songs such as Open Arms, Faithfully, Don’t Stop Believing.

march 26 (john legend)
another foreign musical artist who will soon hit manila is john legend, who will perform live at the araneta coliseum.

a couple of friends have asked me earlier if i would be interested to go, and without batting an eyelash i said i’d like to. but after glancing at the ticket prices (P10,000 to roughly P1000), my enthusiasm cooled down considerably. sure, i admire the guy’s music (Save Room for My Love, We Just Don’t Care) and i’d love to see him perform live, but at this stage i really need to trim down my expenses so i’m more likely to (regretfully) forego this one. *sigh*

march 27 (craig david)
craig david will be flying in to beguile his thousands of local fans via a live performance at the araneta coliseum on the 27th (friday, 8:00pm) as part of his Greatest Hits tour.

ticket prices start from P893 and can reach up to P4568, so if you want to watch this 27-year-old R&B hip hitmaker, better grab those tickets now. his collection of hits include Can You Fill Me In, I Just Don’t Love You No More, Walking Away, etc.

tickets to these concerts are easily available through Ticketnet.

surprisingly i found myself at a loose end this afternoon, so rather than vegetate in front of the TV for the next 3 hours i hauled my sluggish carcass off to the Shang (Crossing) to watch Confessions of a Shopaholic, which i enjoyed thoroughly.

Confessions of a Shopaholic, based on a novel of the same title by Sophie Kinsella, follows the trend of formulaic sleek rom-coms that are guaranteed to warm the cockles of a girl’s heart — particularly of the shop-hopping variety (which pretty much covers a wide demographic group). it’s about that most delightful of leisure activities, shopping (big surprise); signature clothes, bags, shoes and accessories; dedicated shoppers; the razzle and dazzle of the corporate battlefield; and even a romantic angle to boot!

Confessions of a Shopaholic is served well by its terrific leads, isla fisher (as shopping fiend rebecca bloomwood) and hugh dancy (luke brandon), as well as its support cast. i make special mention of joan cusack and john goodman as rebecca’s goofy but supportive parents and cute kristyn ritter as rebecca’s best friend.

all in all, the acting is generally good, the clothes and shoes are gorgeous, and the film’s pacing is snappy. i’m not including any summary or spoilers here to encourage those who still haven’t watched Confessions of a Shopaholic to go see it. it’s a sugar-coated piece of fluff, but you’ll enjoy it.

my favorite scene in the movie? hands down it’s got to be the dance scene (tango?) between rebecca and luke (incidentally, i liked hugh dancy in ella enchanted), wherein rebecca’s endearingly hilarious moves inadvertently turn her into a lethal whirling object in the dance floor (watch that fan!). ms. fisher pulled that off quite nicely. i laughed, but she snagged my sympathy.

one movie that has slowly trickled into public consciousness this past week is Two Lovers, which opened in US theaters last Feb. 13th. Two Lovers, which topbills joaquin phoenix and gwyneth paltrow, is actually too bleak or somber to qualify as one your usual valentine flicks, but it’s been getting a lot of favorable notice from various critics.

incidentally, Two Lovers (directed by james gray) made its debut in the Cannes Film Festival in 2008, and was actually one of the few notable films that stirred some noise in the said event. many critics (then and now) noted the fine performance of the cast, particularly joaquin phoenix — notwithstanding his bizarre stint (unkempt beard and all) in David Letterman’s show just a few days ago — along with gwyneth paltrow, vinessa shaw, isabelli rossellini, moni moshonov, etc.

many are hoping that joaquin phoenix won’t make good on his threat to quit acting altogether in order to embark on a new career direction as a rap artist (umm, say what? what is going on here?).

at any rate, Two Lovers also marks the third time that james gray and joaquin phoenix have collaborated on a film (the other two being The Yards and We Own the Night).

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i just couldn’t resist… that weird Letterman episode keeps popping up in my mind at odd moments so i’m posting it here via this ‘Tube vid.

if this doesn’t ring any alarm bells in your mind, maybe you should also consider the fact that during his first public performance as a hip-hop artist, joaquin phoenix reportedly didn’t make much sense (he made the same ‘mumbling’ delivery apparently) — on top of which he fell off the stage! uggh! *nervous laughter* whatever his point is, i hope that joaquin phoenix will wake up soon and get his act together.

what do you guys think?