Philippine Asian News Today Vol 21 No 01 | Page 26

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PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY January 1 - 20, 2019
By Alan Samuel
Stan & Ollie. (PG) * *
Dynamic Duo!
Popular pairings are not just common for
food offerings or other daily occurrences. Once in
a while the world of entertainment scores well when
it comes to unique partnerships that find far-flung
friendships with audiences. Together dynamic duos
on the silver screen and on stage have included
the likes of Martin and Lewis, Abbot and Costello,
Tracy and Hepburn, Bogie and Bacall, The Captain
and Tenille, Hall and Oates, Those Dooby and
Righteous Brothers and the triple play threats of
Hope, Crosby and Lamour plus the Brothers Gibb.
So just to scratch the list seems endless. To this
respected community one must add Oliver and
Hardy, the subject of a unique offering from EOne
Entertainment called, not surprisingly, Stan &
Ollie. Just offered at limited theatres such as The
International Village Cinemas this rather small film
focuses on a unique period in the men’s lives.
Thrust into the spotlight in the early 30s
American comics Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy
proves to be a winning combination for film
audiences around the world. Impeccable casting
sees Britain’s man of all voices Steve Coogan (A
Night at the Museum) and amusing American John
C. Reilly (Step Brothers) connect with viewers as
a team with perfect timing yet showing strains in Steve Coogan as Stan Laurel and John C. Reilly as Oliver Hardy in STAN & OLLIE, an Entertainment One
their unique partnership. Despite the on-screen release.
persona Stan & Ollie shows the rather tumultuous
around Great Britain.
one last comeback/hurrah in England. Fun routines
nature of this pair as business decisions and
Yes, there definitely is a good bond between will make you laugh and. Chuckle to yourselves
personality conflicts rose to the fore and became
Coogan and Reilly. What Stan & Ollie does so well but the growing pains of a strained relationship will
more prominent during an overseas trip. Hopes to
is look at the day to day lives of two actors eking out forever color your views of two giants In the comedy
resuscitate a now subsiding career proved to be
a living in bustling Los Angeles before hoping for world - second to none.
a long shot as the two did the vaudevillian circuit
The Upside (PG) ****
Guardian Angel?
Give it up to STX Films. Hollywood’s newest studio must be blessed
by the angels with their latest delivery - The Upside. Perfect timing sees this
well-intentioned drama comedy hit The International Village Theatre and other
local British Columbian Cineplex movie Theatres.
Touching on a host of social issues in many meaningful ways at the core
of The Upside is the special relationship between two diametrically opposed
individuals. Contrast the different paths in life Phillip and Dell have taken. Hard
luck seems to have followed Dell almost every step of the way while life has
been materialistically better for Phillip though personal and health issues have
taken their toll on him.
Bryan Cranston does a wonderful acting tour de force as Phillip who is
confined to a wheelchair. In need of support staff somehow Dell, the man with
street starts but with loads of excess baggage, gets the gig. Man in the news
Kevin Hart simply shines as the wayward out to lunch care aid who somehow
manages to create a solid bond with the ultra rich Phillip.
For this to work you have to buy into the relationship between Dell and
Phillip. Thanks to the outstanding chemistry between Hart and Cranston you
fully appreciate the growth in this bond and it truly turns out to be a source of
inspiration we can all take a lot away from.
For two hours this feel good movie keeps you intrigued and amused.
Said to be based on a true story this American version of a French classic is
well presented by Director Neil Burger (The Illusionist) and also benefits from
the added presence of Nicole Kidman in a pivotal role.
TEST NO. 4: ART & CULTURE
1. Who solved her first case in The Secret
of the Old Clock?
a. Nancy Drew
b. Jane Marple
2. Valentine’s Day is banned in Saudi
Arabia.
a. True
b.
False
3.
For trying to record everything ever known, what ‘last scholar of
the ancient world’ was declared in 1997 by Pope John Paul II as patron
saint of the Internet?
a.
Augustine of Hippo
b.
Isidore of Seville
c.
Terullian of Carthage
d.
Ambrose of Milan
4.
What did the ancient Incas call ‘tears of the sun’?
a.
Corn Cobs
b.
Solar Flares
c.
Gold nuggets
d.
Cocoa beans
5.
What Shakespearean character said, ‘We are such stuff as
dreams are made on; and our little life is rounded with a sleep’?
a.
Henry V
b.
Portia
c.
Hamlet
d.
Prospero
6.
What diptych painting by American artist Roy Lichtenstein
depicts a fighter aircraft on the left panel firing a rocket into an enemy
plane on the right panel?
What ‘FSM’ is worshipped as creator of the universe in
7.
Pastafarianism, a ‘religion’ that opposes the teaching of creationism
and intelligent design in public schools?
Gerald and Charles are the first names of the founders of what
8.
publishing company that releases over 100 novels a month?
Almost 2,000 years after it was built, what European landmark
9.
still boasts of the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world?
In 1980, what became the sixth and latest official language of
10.
the United Nations?
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