Wil B Performs at the FABE LOVE Fashion Show Tonight

Wilson Benedict Cariaga is one of our good friends, and tonight, he will serenade all the guests in the FABE LOVE Fashion Show.  A classically trained voice major at the University of Santo Tomas, Wil B, also is a fantastic chef and a skilled photographer.  Truly multi-talented!  Just see him rock the house later tonight at the Metro Bar.  He's one of the reasons why I'm quite excited to see the show!

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Wil B Performs at the FABE LOVE Fashion Show Tonight

Wilson Benedict Cariaga is one of our good friends, and tonight, he will serenade all the guests in the FABE LOVE Fashion Show.  A classically trained voice major at the University of Santo Tomas, Wil B, also is a fantastic chef and a skilled photographer.  Truly multi-talented!  Just see him rock the house later tonight at the Metro Bar.  He's one of the reasons why I'm quite excited to see the show!

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• Khael: One of the Performers during the FABE Hotter Than Summer Fashion Show
• Daniel Paolo David: Male Model FABE Hotter Than Summer Fashion Show

Beauties at the FABE LOVE Fashion Show Tonight

Well, there will be sixty ladies who will ramp tonight at the FABE LOVE Fashion Show and these are some of the ones I really like!  Hope is quite beautiful in person and Jenus can really ramp like a pro (which she is, by the way).  And Pia is seductive as she opens the lingerie portion of the show!  If there are hot men, well, the women are just as hot and alluring!  And they will do gowns, swimwear, casual wear and lingerie!

Sherwin Marquez Sings At the FABE LOVE Fashion Show Tonight

Well, Sherwin Marquez will perform tonight at the FABE LOVE Fashion Show. He'll provide a respite from the eight rounds of ramp which 131 models will be doing! That's a lot of models to look at, so it would be great if there was music to entertain everyone, and give enough time also for the models to change.

My Oscar Pick for Best Cinematography: Matthew Libatique - Black Swan

I just saw the movie tonight and man, all that camera focus on the face and body of Natalie Portman is just unnerving and it really just works!  You are just so in focus at what is happening to Natalie's character that you are drawn in to what she is feeling and experiencing as she goes from kookoo to major kookoo!  Everything feels claustrophobic and overbearing - just the way Natalie's character is really feeling.  Now how's that for camera handling!

My Oscar Pick for Best Costume Design: Colleen Atwood - Alice in Wonderland

Colleen Atwood is a perennial nominee, and has won this award twice already - for Chicago and Memoirs of A Geisha.  She is my pick this year for the beautiful and creative clothes she designed for Tim Burton's take on Alice in Wonderland.  It is a wonderful interpretation of the world created by Lewis Carrol.  I just really like it!

My Oscar Pick for Best Film Editing: 127 Hours

My idea of film editing is just the splicing of the scenes together to make a wonderful and coherent whole. All the nominees are great but I think it's in 127 Hours where I could really feel that the film editor pieced the story really well! As soon as the film starts, you feel like you're in this roller coaster ride into the life of Aron Ralston and his pure love of extreme sports and of the outdoors! You see huge vistas of beautiful canyons and then zooming into ants that crawl on James Franco's face. Just so beautiful to see!

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My Oscar Pick for Best Original Score: Hans Zimmer - Inception

My initial vote actually went to The Social Network. I would've also loved to vote for 127 Hours since the score there really helped the movie. However, I think it's the music of Inception that has helped to highlight the tension in the movie. I think Hans Zimmer has done a fantastic job in making the music as breathtaking as the visual effects in the movie. As those buildings crumble and the dreams fold into the other dreams, you can hear it in the music as well - that feeling of dread and destruction cannot be mistaken!

My Oscar Pick for Best Original Song: Dido and A.R. Rahman - 127 Hours

This song was played in the middle of the movie and I really liked it. It's subtle and sad and embodies the atmospheric beauty which you see in the movie and the positive message of survival that it sends to everyone. I also love the voice of Dido here. Breathtaking as always!

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Hot Guys In the FABE LOVE Fashion Show Tonight

Well, this is just some of the eye candy you'll see in the FABE LOVE Fashion Show tonight.  I saw all of them at practice today, and truth to say, I really had a great time just looking at them!  They're hot, hot, hot! And a bit shy too bwahaha!  Around sixty guys will be on the ramp tonight and about twenty will do the swimwear and underwear segments.  They'd have to have the body to be in that portion of the show!

My Oscar Pick for Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Mixing and Best Sound Editing: Inception

This movie literally took my breath away - visual effects-wise! I actually saw all the nominees in this category, and this is the one in my book that should win! That scene alone were they were 'floating' in the room and that fight scene where Joseph Gordon-Levitt fought off the dream snatchers was fascinating to watch!  And well, in the sound mixing and sound editing categories, Inception also gets my vote. How can the visual work without the sound?  Just not possible!  The two have to go together.

Lady Gagita Graces the FABE LOVE Fashion Show Tonight

I actually met these guys at the Philippine Fashion Week a year ago and I think their performance here is just hilarious and great as well! They'll be doing several songs in the show tonight so I hope to see the same energy and fun!

My Oscar Pick for Best Adapted Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin - The Social Network

Well, this guy just has to win this award! Really! Aaron Sorkin really deserves it!  The script for this movie is one of the wittiest I've seen in years and everything is compact and thrilling and helps move the movie forward!  I love the way Aaron depicts the arrogance of Zuckerberg as he faced that Harvard tribunal.  I love the exuberance of the character of Justin Timberlake.  I love the sadness that befell Andrew's character when he learns he's been brushed off.  All these emotions are depicted in words that Aaron sorted out for this movie.  Just give him the Oscar, please!

The Fabulous DREZZEE Gowns in the FABE LOVE Fashion Show

The gowns that will be worn in the FABE LOVE Fashion Show are courtesy of Drezzee gowns - and all of them are fabulous and beautiful!!  Worth of an Oscar-type entrance, mind you!! 

Here is a taste of some of them and multiply that by fourteen, and that's how many gowns you will see in the fashion show tonight!

Drezzee gowns are available at all Landmark Department Stores, all Cinderella Stores and at their stand-alone Drezzee store at Harrison Plaza.

Well, rest assured that none of the gowns in this show were just bought off the rack from SM and stripped of its tag and retagged just like that so-called famous and creative designer did! Like duh? 

My Oscar Pick for Best Original Screenplay: Christopher Nolan - Inception

This guy just has to win in this category!  He just took the 'dreaming' genre into a new dimension with his intensely original take on it in the movie Inception!  I just loved this movie.  Not only was it original, you'd have to peel layer after layer of it to fully understand what's going on.  I knew I was in a different zone when I first watched it, but after a second look - I finally understood (ok just a little) as to why this thing happened or why that thing happened.  Apparently, there was a logical reason why things were happening in the movie!  I just hoped the Academy voters did not get a headache piecing everything together!

Nikko Hubalde Sizzles During the FABE LOVE Fashion Show Rehearsals

We had our final dress rehearsals today and I admit, Nikko Hubalde was one of those who really transfixed me.  He just had this animal appeal - and when he came out just wearing the his piece for the swimwear and the underwear collection - whew - he just really looked sexy in them!  Talk about raw animal and sexual appeal!

My Oscar Pick for Best Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo - The Fighter

There is a strong batch of women in this year's Best Supporting Actress list, and in another year, I would've picked Hailee Steinfield, who does a remarkable job in True Grit.  But still, my vote still goes to Melissa Leo in The Fighter - my vote for the best acted movie in 2010.  Both Melissa and Christian just gave fantastic performances in this movie.  Melissa just embodied her role and made somebody, who we usually will not like, into someone we liked and cared for.  It was a strong portrayal of a mother who just wanted the best for her son yet ended up being the worst thing for him!

My Oscar Pick for Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale - The Fighter

I admit that I was one of those people who quizzically looked up onscreen and said, 'That's Christian Bale?" once his character came out in the film The Fighter.  He literally became 'the person' that he was supposed to act out in this movie.  It was just fascinating to watch his cportrayal embody the character from the beginning till the end of the movie. 

My Oscar Pick for Best Actress: Natalie Portman - Black Swan

I admit I will be one of those who will be shocked if she does not win for this role!  I know Annette Benning is long overdue for a win - but I don't think it should come from her movie - The Kids Are All Right.  Maybe for American Beauty - but not that movie.  Natalie just owned her character.  She was just exquisitely beautiful in this movie.  She also had to make her speaking voice a bit girly here.  I am just surprised Barbara Hershey did not get a nomination for her mother role however.  As for Natalie, she deserves to win.  One year of ballet practicing and the punishing role she had here, plus that phase of going from crazy to even crazier - not easy to stand on your toles like that, like what she did in the movie.  Academy - give it to her!!

My Oscar Pick for Best Actor: James Franco - 127 Hours

Ok, ok!  I am voting with my loins! I have always had a crush on this guy since he came out in Spiderman.  So now that he has finally done a film that pleases the academy, I choose him as my Best Actor this year.  I haven't seen Colin Firth and Javier Bardem yet (except on their movies' trailers).  Jesse Eisenberg plays Zuckerberg to a T and Jeff Bridges is just amazing in True Grit.  But my eyes and attention was just transfixed at James Franco in 127 Hours.  I was just rooting for his character to hold on and not give up.  He really played the gamut of emotions in this movie.  I know he's a longshot to win but in my book, he's my winner!

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My Oscar Pick for Best Director: David Fincher - The Social Network

I just love this guy's body of work!!  I watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button three times - during its theatrical release!  I was just so moved by the movie!  And of course, who could forget The Fight Club, Seven, Zodiac and The Game - all movies that I really enjoyed and loved.  I think it was only Panic Room which I didn't quite like.  So it was a surprise for me to learn that he directed this film!  David Fincher doing a talkie! That's new!  He just really did a good job in making this film tight and gripping and interesting!

My Oscar Pick for Best Picture: The Social Network

It's one of those rare years where most of the Oscar-nominated movies have already been screened here in Manila.  This year, out of the ten Best Picture nominees, only The Kids Are All Right, Winter's Bone and The King's Speech have to make their way here - which is remarkable!  There were years when I was growing up, that I would see the Oscar-nominated movies, only after they've already won.

Anyhow, my pick for Best Picture would still be The Social Network.  I think the academy should give this award to this movie since among all the nominees, it has the most recent theme, and it chronicles something that is actually happening now!  Facebook has really revolutionized the social habits of today's youth.

It does help that David Fincher turns something that would, maybe, look boring on paper, look interesing on screen.  And I admit, I was transfixed with this movie, from that scene where Jesse Eisenberg was having this clever conversation with this co-ed up to the last scene.  I was really impressed!!  At that time, I had only seen Inception (which is equally impressive too!).  This film just took me on the rollercoaster ride that the characters in it were expressing.  I really actually cared for them!  And they're not even nice people!!

Democracy in the Middle East? Oh yeah, a pan-Arab youth Movement is making it happen!!

Finally, because of the power of the Internet, the youth of the Middle East are starting to wake up!  I know it's a stereotypical comment to see Arab countries as oppressive to women, backward in social justice and cruel to gay people - but with what I'm seeing now, people everywhere, regardless of race and cultural background - all want freedom and democracy - to making their voices heard!! 

I guess because the Internet allows information to cross through borders - the Middle Eastern youth have seen what freedom and democracy has done to many of the more economically progressive countries, so they want the same for their own countries.  Down with dictatorships and oligarchies and hello to the new Middle Eastern political order - where they youth can have a more active role and voice in governing their respective countries.  In the end, the oligarchies in Tunisia and Egypt fell, and I won't be surprised if the bandwagon continues as it spreads like wildfire in the region.

In the Philippines, Gay Men Prefer Straight Men

My gay friends are often amused when I tell them that here in the Philippines, gay men still prefer straight men - and all of them would look incredulously at me!  Of course, common sense would dictate that it's a no-win situation, but in a country where poverty is widespread, it is not uncommon for straight men to 'use' gay men for money, for career advancement, for any viable reason that a beautiful but poor woman would also do just to hook up with that filthy rich but really ugly man. 

So I told them, really feminine gay men (and many masculine gay men) have relationships with handsome straight men, albeit poor men, who sometimes 'abuse' these gay men.  But of course, I believe these 'sisters' of mine get into these 'relationships' with eyes wide open, so they really know the consequences of their actions.  So it's not uncommon to see them crying their hearts out in the end when the straight guy decides to be with the woman he really loves!  But even then, some gay men still continue to support their lovers plus their wife and their kids too!  See, love is really blind!!