IKON and On

From left: Pulse.ph Writer Joelle Jacinto, Wolfpac COO Rayna Roxas, Digital Media Division Manager Pats Co, Pulse Editor-in-Chief Luis Katigbak

So Pulse.ph is the presentor of IKON Philippines, the local leg of "ASEAN's biggest music contest!" We had the Artists' Briefing last Thursday, and what an array of artists it was: from The Dawn to Kapatid to the Chillitees to Julianne to Grace freakin' Nono to, yes, Vina Morales, all gathered in a ballroom at the Mandarin.


Skarlet and a couple of maangas friends

The presscon was held the next day, and featured performances by Kjwan, The Dawn, Kala, Julianne, and a show-stopping number by the peerless Grace Nono. Read all about it here!

Quezon City Ninjas

Last Thursday night at Ninja Kiss 32: Ninja Kyusi Vol. 2 was the most fun at a gig I've had in a long while. Pumping Pluto kicked things off, Bagetsafonik showcased some stuff I hadn't heard before and ended their set with "Song for the Sunlight," my current favorite of their songs, and then The Ronnies followed by Milagros Dancehall Collective got us all on our feet and dancing like the happy fools that we were.

To quote the ninjakisser: "dens dens madness ensued at route196, pare. ang daming kilikiling nakataas. happy birthday to milagros' robbie, dahil sayo naka tequila ako ulit after 10 years. what a jabariffic gig!" Many many more pix of the ninja kyusi madness here!

10 Thoughts About Spider-Man 3

So Yvette and I watched Spider-Man 3 last Friday. :) Here are some thoughts.

1. Spider-Man is fatter the third time around. Of course, I'm one to talk.

2. Tobey Maguire is great fun as Disco Parker. Though I wish they had made his hair more disco-ey.

3. Kirsten Dunst would rather be doing something else than playing Mary Jane again.

4. For some reason, Bryce Dallas Howard as Gwen Stacy reminded me a lot of Lougee Basabas from Mojofly. Maybe they should hire Lougee if they ever make Gagamboy 3.

5. James Franco portrays Harry Osborn's descent into evil by raising one (or, possibly, both) eyebrows slightly, in close-up shots. This is one of the funniest things in the entire movie.

6. Topher Grace is cast perfectly as the delusional, smarmy Eddie Brock (aka Venom). Too bad his character/story arc was crammed into this movie, instead of being given a whole installment to be developed properly.

7. Thomas Haden Church is cast perfectly as the conflicted, hard-luck Flint Marko (aka Sandman). Too bad his character/story arc was crammed into this movie, instead of being given a whole installment to be developed properly.

8. Bruce Campbell is cast perfectly as the French Restaurant Dude. Nuff said.

9. Elizabeth Banks (Betty Brant) is hot, as always. I always thought it was a shame that the movies skipped over her cute/slightly disturbing romance with Peter Parker (as chronicled in the comics) and went straight to Mary Jane. Of course, now it seems that they're backpedaling a bit, by introducing Gwen Stacy and letting Peter flirt more overtly with Betty.

10. Everyone involved needs to take a long break before working on the next one.

Overall, it’s still worth seeing, though as Star Wars geek Adrian A. observed, “It’s the Jedi of the series”—not as good as the first two, but not a total loss, and if you’re a fan at all, you’ve probably already seen it anyway. ;p