Kamote, Kalabaw

The recent episodes of Atlantika became exciting. The turn of events were quick. Compared to the earlier episodes, which were too "soapy", Atlantika today is worth watching you wouldn't want to miss an episode. I hope this continues till the end. Dingdong (Dantes) has improved a lot with his fight scenes. His fight, however, with Joanne Quintas showed that the latter was a mediocre actress rather than a villain with extraordinary power. Such lousy scene can be avoided by zooming on the action movements rather than showing full shots of the scene where one can see how awkward some actors are in a fight scene. The best fight scene I have seen so far on TV was that of Richard Gomez and Christopher de Leon. It was from a GMA7 soap directed by Joyce Bernal. The scene was on a bridge.

Superheroes may have weaknesses but should not be stupid. In last nights episode, Aquano, after getting hold of the black pearl, he dropped it after being attack by Piranus. If Aquano was a smart guy, he should have immediately put the black pearl in a very safe place. Why is it that writers make bad guys smarter than the good guys (or the main character)? In other words, why do writers make their main characters stupid. What I didn't like about Darna was that this superwoman was stupid. She just couldn't make a decision right away. She was always out-smarted by the villains. In Majika, Sabina, again was a stupid salamankera (magician). Again, she was always out-smarted by the contravidas . In Captain Barbell, Teng was stupid about his alibi. When Levi asked him if he hurt himself when he was riddled by bullets, he said that he was not. A better alibi could have been "not much; good thing I decided to wear a bullet-proof jacket that night". Yes, I understand that th...

Atlantika is a kingdom of aquatic beings. These aquatizens are originally from a galactic planet who found a new home on earth but had to settle beneath the ocean because of their aquatic nature. They are stronger under the water. Their kingdom is built inside a dome powered by the "polaris". During the full moon, the polaris rises at ocean level as an island in order to be re-energized by the moon. After the full-moon phase, it descends back to Atlantika to energize the dome. What the mortal folks see when the Polaris rises is an island. They call this island "Luli", which means "lulubog, lilitaw" (descending, ascending). They have created several superstitious beliefs related to this island. Atlantika is ruled by a King with his Queen. It has a Maharlikan Council that administers the kingdom and its aquatizens called Atlantikans.

Atlantika is GMA-7's newest primetime offering, the most ambitious and phenomenal production according to the network. Most ambitious in a sense that part of the scenes are shoot underwater. Truly, in the making of Atlantika, Marissa Floirendo doing the underwater cinematographic shoots is enough to impress televiewers to watch this tele-fantasy series. Water or underwater production is expensive. The movie "Waterworld" [Kevin Costner] is an example. I yet have to find out how much was spent in this movie. In American TV, "The Man from Atlantis" [Patrick Duffy] was a hit in the 80's. It is in this series where viewers saw a new form of swimming underwater -- the wave; and Patrick was very good at it. Since then, all other sea characters in movies followed the same swimming technique. I wish that Atlantika becomes a phenomenon too as Encantadia did. To date, Encantadia holds the title of the most phenomenal TV series. In the reality-TV genre, Starstruck 1 is ...

As the fantasy series "Majika" ends, a new fantasy is about to begin - the rise of "Atlantika" starring Dingdong Dantes. From the same people behind "Encantadia", "Atlantika" promises another worth-watching mini-series that caters to a more mature audience. "Encantadia" was a phenomenon. It has elevated primetime Philippine TV viewing to a higher and more sophisticate level and world-class production. Just like "Encantadia", who was watched by, not only the younger generations, but also the adults, "Atlantika", promises the same TV experience for the Filipinos around the world. "Atlantika" is a production of GMA Network. If you're outside the Philippines, you can watch "Atlantika" through the cable channel GMA Pinoy TV.

Synopsis Ayesa (Carmina Villaroel) and Garam (Zoren Legaspi) escaped from Saladin, the world of wizardry where only men are allowed to practice magic. The couple decided to live with the mortals thinking that it was far enough to be discovered by the "salamankas" (magicians). But they were wrong. Meanwhile, in Saladin, Markadam, who embraced black magic, tried to escape from the abyss of the ocean. The elders of the magic land presumed that it was Ayesa and Garam who tried to help Markadam to escape. The elders then summoned the "Umbras" (nymphs) to hunt Ayesa and Garam. The Umbras succeeded. In the land of mortals, Garam and his kids, Jimboy and Sara, were forcefully brought back to Saladin by the Umbras leaving his wife Ayesa and elder daughter, Sabina. The kids had no idea that their parents were magicians. Flows of Flaws Congratulations to GMA7! Though he pilot episode of Majika was not that impressive compared to the pilot episode of Mulawin and Encantadia, it...

Majika - the latest tele-fantasy series being offered by GMA7 looks promising with a star-studded cast headed by Angel Locsin (Mulawin, Darna) and Dennis Trillo (Mulawin, Darna, Etheria). Based on teasers, the new series combines storylines from Narnja and Harry Potter. Compared to Encantadia and Etheria, this new series will be less violent for it targets a younger audience. So far, the costumes are good but not as impressive as those of Encantadia/Etheria. The hair make-up of Eddie Garcia and Eddie Gutierrez needs improvement because it's very obvious that they are wearing fake hair. Their long hair should look like its really growing from their head. They should take note of the hair of Legolas (Orlando Bloom) in Lord of the Rings. Legolas' hair looked credible with Orlando Bloom. Let's wait and see how this new TV series will hit the ratings and how it will fair with Encantadia/Etheria.

Marky Cielo and Jackie Rise were declared on March 12, 2006 as the ultimate survivors of the reality-based TV program "Starstruck", each winning P1,000,000 in cash and a P2M-contract from the GMA Network. From the two, Marky Cielo, stood as the sole survivor winning, in addition, a house and lot worth P2.5M, a 1.5M business package from Ink For Less, P300,000 cash from Drs. Pie and Manny Calayan, among others. All in all, Marky won a prize worth P10,000,000 -- the highest prize winning given so far in the history of Philippine television. Marky Cielo, a true-blooded Filipino, hails from the Mountain Province. He's a proud descendant of the Igorot tribe. It's about time that a star is born from a genuine native Filipino race. Jackie, on the other hand, is a Fil-Am hailing from Olongapo. From thousands of aspirants, the two emerged as winners from the Starstruck top 12. Marky received the highest number of votes. Runners-up were Gian of Iloilo and Iwa Moto of Las Pinas....

The "Encantadia" epic continues. As "Etheria" (book 2) ends, "Encantadia - Pag-ibig Hanggang Wakas" begins. "Etheria" ended well. It had a combined mood of sadness and joy. "Etheria" as a whole wasn't boring at all. The twists were carefully treated. On the other hand, "Encantadia-Love Till the End" (book 3) started with a storyline that would keep you hooked on it and look forward to the next episodes. Sad to say, the next episodes were disappointing. The story episodes made the characterization of the Sang'gres inconsistent, so therefore, weak. There was no strong justification to make the audience believe why the main characters were suddenly deviating from their true personality. This Book 3 has made the characters of Encantadia stupid. Amihan, who was supposedly gentle and peace loving, suddenly became judgmental and refused to listen to Pirena's own story. Pirena, on the other hand, who was supposed to b...

Today, the 50th episode of Etheria ends in order to begin a new chapter in the world of Encantadia. Etheria (from the word ether, the fifth element) was the 5th kingdom of Encantadia. Its goddess was Ether, who fell in love with Arde, a fellow god - a forbidden relationship. For that reason, they was punished by the god Emre. Ether was transformed into a snake; Arde, into a dragon. Ether, being powerful, was worshiped by the citizens of Encantadia. Such adoration gave birth to the Kingdom of Etheria. Emre, Ether, and Arde were not actually from Encantadia. They were banished from their own world - the world of gods. During a war between the good and revolutionary angels, these three gods sided neither with the good nor the revolutionary. They preferred to be allies of either camp which was not acceptable to the government of gods. For that reason, the minister of the angels banished them from the spiritual world and sent them to Encantadia - a spiritual world on earth. Lured by selfish...

About the Show :: Etheria - Ang Ikalimang Kaharian ng Encantadia (The Fifth Kingdom of Encantadia) :: This is so far the most sophisticate, most elaborate, and most expensive production ever made on TV. GMA Network has made TV viewing intelligently entertaining.

If you've been hearing about Etheria in the Philippines , it's not too late yet to begin where it started. "Etheria" is the most sophisticate, big-budgeted production that TV has ever produced so far. It is a collaboration of a TV network, a pool of young and professional creative writers, an internationally known production designer with his team or artists, and two well-respected movie directors who were all challenged to bring quality TV to the mass audiences. Power packed with a cast of popular actors and actresses, watching Etheria is like watching a movie in a smaller screen. But Etheria did not start in Etheria. Etheria is a prequel-sequel of Encantandia. Sounds conflicting? It is because Etheria in Encantadia boasts of complex twists that if you ever missed a chapter, like the Etherian Kingdom , you will be lost. So, for those who were not able to see its beginning, the history of Etheria follows. It all started in "Mulawin" - an accidental hit s...

I was awaken late in the morning, about 10:00 AM, by the sound of TV in our living room. From my bedroom, I could hear the words "stampede" and "rescue". Something must have happened wrong somewhere, I thought. After a quick prayer, I rushed outside from my room, saw on TV dead bodies laid on the street. There was a woman who was wailing. Perhaps, it was her mother who died. I also saw a father with his son, both crying beside the lifeless body of his wife and his mother. The next day, in the newspaper, the picture of a young man weeping while clutching the head of his dead mother caught my attention. All of a sudden, time seemed to stop. Quickly, I felt that there was something knifing my heart into a deep wound that hasn't healed yet. I felt again the pain the day my mother died. I was beside my mother when she died. I, too, wailed while I clutched her head and kissed her face every now and then. It was like a big part of myself left the world for no reason at...