HBOS' Enlightened is my most favorite show this week as the show coasts into a dramatic second season finale. It's one of the best episodes of the show though and it's really sad that HBO has decided to cancel it. Anyway, that's life. At least we enjoyed this gem for a while.
Here are my favorite shows for the week ending March 29, 2013 -
#1 HBO - Enlightened
#2 TV5 Monde -Fais Pas Ci Fais Pa Ca - not going to China
#3 TV5 Monde -Fais Pas Ci Fais Pas Ca - parents die
#4HBO - Girls
#5 Crime Investigation - Fatal Vows
#6 Crime Investigation - On the Case - David Fawley
#7 Biography - My Ghost Story - Fireplace Phantoms
#8 HBO - Closer
#9 Biography - Ghostly Encounters - soldier ghost
#10 Crime Investigation - Medical Detectives - bludgeoned wife
I should really read more gay literature. Unfortunately, it's not very easy to look for these types of literature in our local bookstores, so I was surprised to find that I did have a gay-themed novel in my collection and I did buy the book locally - in Powerbooks! Anyway, the title of the book is Confessions of a Casanova by Chris Kenry.
It's a very light read but pretty interesting and definitely something I can relate too! However, the lead character is a bit of a cad who can't make up his mind and just drifts from man to man to man! That's why there is a Casanova in the title!
I really enjoyed reading it and in fact, I finished it so quickly!! Maybe I should visit our local bookstores more and check for more gay literature! At least this is something I can really relate to and laugh along with!
I watched Nat Geo's The Gospel of Judas this week and it was a very interesting show! I now understood why the Jews have been persecuted for centuries and how the gospel might be manipulated to make Judas really look bad. It was interesting to know that Judas was the most intelligent of all the apostles and he was also close to Jesus. And the crux of it all is that Judas wrote a gospel! Hence, the gospel of Judas! However, it's not for public consumption and only those studying divinity on a master's level and higher is allowed to read it.
Anyway, here are my ten favorite TV shows for the week ending March 22, 2013 -
#1 NatGeo - The Gospel of Judas
#2 TV5 Monde - Dans Les Pas de Marie Curie
#3 HBO - Girls - Paul Walker
#4 TV5 Monde - Fais Pas Ci, Fais Pas Ca - Noel
#5 TV5 Monde - Fais Pas Ci, Fais Pa Ca
#6 HBO - Enlightened
#7 GMA7 - Eat Bulaga
#8 GMA7 - Eat Bulaga
#9 ABS-CBN - Ted Failon Ngayon
#10 GMA7 - Imbestigador
I have had to scale down my theatre watching this year because of budgetary constraints. As they say, when one has to adjust to the kumot, it's normally my theatre budget that has to be trimmed down. Pity really since the theater-going experience here in Manila is quite wonderful and enjoyable, but since I have some important bills to pay these past two years, ilimit na lang muna siya.
Luckily, since my friend Em has season tickets to Repertory Philippines, I still get my theater fix kahit papano, kahit once a month lang. This March, the talented guys from the Rep presented No Way To Treat A Lady - a murder mystery musical which I thoroughly enjoyed! Sad lang kasi there were not many people in the audience the night I was watching. Papuntang Holy Week na kasi siguro.
Anyway, everyone in the cast was top-notch that night! Audie Gemora had to don so many wigs in the play it was pretty hilarious to see - and he can even pull of looking like a lady!! I've always found Joel Trinidad very sexy although I think he needs a Boracay tan now since in some scenes he looked deathly white! And my favorite theater actress-singer Carla Guevara-Laforteza was also there looking stunningly voluptuous in many of her scenes!
Watching a Repertory Philippines play is always an entertaining experience because the standard is just so high! Frankly, they really just set the bar in English-speaking theatergoing here in Manila and any aspiring theater actor should at least have performed with them, even for a play or two. They will surely learn a thing or two which they can use in their own theater groups.
As for me, well, looking forward to the next play and my friend says it's The Graduate! How exciting!
I was just channel surfing tonight when I chanced upon the Nat Geo program, The Gospel of Judas. It is a very intriguing title since Judas has always been portrayed in a very bad light in our gospel - and for him to have written the Gospel according to Judas - now that's pretty interesting! Problem is, the Catholic Church won't release it for public consumption, but instead, reserved it for people who want to take higher studies in Theology.
Frankly, it would've been interesting to find out what Judas thought of Jesus and how he would narrate the gospel - and of course, maybe how he saw Jesus. The documentary was intriguing enough hinting that Judas was some sort of fall guy so that the prophecy of Jesus' crucifixion would happen.
The French program Fais Pa Ci, Fais Pa Ca continues to have solid episodes this week, still making it my favorite TV show for the week. The show just gets more and more funny and crazy and the four main characters are just hilarious as always!
Anyway, here are my favorite shows for the week ending March 15, 2013 -
#1 TV5 Monde - Fais Pas Ci, Fais Pa Ca - new job for Denis
#2 TV5 Monde -Fais Pas Ci, Fais Pa Ca -old lady found
#3 HBO -Girls
#4 CI - The Will - Frankie Lymon
#5 CI -Medical Detectives - Trail of a Killer - Kathy
#6 Diva Universal -Law and Order SVU - genius girl 14 year old
#7 Diva Universal - NCIS Strikes Back - suicide
#8 Diva Universal - Castle
#9 Bio - Ghostly Encounters
#10 Bio - Ghostly Encounters
Even with the debut of the pilot episodes of the second season of Girls and Enlightened this week, the two episodes of the French TV show, Fais Pa Ci Fais Pa Ca were just too interesting that they get the top two slots for my favorite TV shows for the week.
Here are my ten favorite TV shows for the week ending March 8, 2013 -
#1 TV5 Monde - Fais Pas Ci, Fais Pa Ca - Le-pleb
#2 TV5 Monde -Fais Pas Ci, Fais Pa Ca - depression
#3 HBO -Se7en
#4 HBO - Girls
#5 HBO - Enlightened
#6 HBO -Country Strong
#7 Jack -Raising Hope - boyfriend
#8 Jack -Raising Hope - pig
#9 CI - Medical Detectives - Social Circle
#10 Jack - Raising Hope - murderer
I love family comedies so it was not strange for me to get an immediate liking to this French TV show Fais Pa Ci, Fais Pa Ca. Sometimes, the hard part about watching TV5 Monde is getting the right timing to watch the right show! So I was very happy to discover this show! The two lead female characters, Isabelle Gelinas and Valerie Bonneton, I feel, are really the ones driving the stories here. Without them moving things along, and without their neurotic behavior, the stories would be a little tepid. Anyhow, the current episodes I've seen are quite riotous and really funny - and again, the two leading women are getting crazier and crazier - and I love them for it!!
There is a beautiful simplicity to Irene Nemirovsky's Suite Francaise. It's one of those rare novels where I could really visualize what was happening since Irene's language was simple and her sentences, uncomplicated. It was wonderful to read it since I could vividly recreate in my head what was transpiring in the book. What surprises me was how like a cookie cutter, Irene described the class distinctions between the French at that time - it was like watching Downton Abbey - but this time - with the characters on the run away from Paris!
And that's only the first part!
The story of the second part becomes a bit unsettling since here, Irene is depicting a very disarming picture of the German soldiers!! And this was written during the war, when it was actually happening!! No evil Hitler German soldiers here! They are described to be such golden boys - my personal imagery could've been the blonde boys of Abercrombie and Fitch - Berlin branch!! Anyway, there is a forbidden love story in that part of the book which leaves us hanging - because, well, Irene, like many of the Jews at that time, were gassed in Auschwitz. But at least this part of the book remains - and these alone are worth the read!
I just finished reading Irene Nemirovsky's Suite Francaise today and I was very surprised at how abrupt the story ended - only to find out later on that Irene actually died in 1942 - one of the unfortunate Jews gassed in Auschwitz. Yet the story that she wrote - Suite Francaise lived on! There are two parallel stories in this book - one telling the story about the people who escaped Paris during the first wave of bombings and then the countryside story about a village occupied by German soldiers.
Anyway, I only read about Irene's life after I read the whole book. I even ignored the prologue and the part where there was an exchange of letters between Irene, her husband and their friends. I was completely floored and saddened to learn that she never survived the war! Now, I want to read her other novels since she has such an intriguing style of writing. Her characterization is so vivid and you can easily summon each of her characters to life.
This year's Oscar awards is my most favorite TV show this week. Although not as entertaining as the Golden Globes, there was enough surprises that night that merit it as the most entertaining Oscars for the past five years, at least in my book. Seth McFarlane is not only funny, I think he's hot!
Here my ten favorite TV shows for the week ending March 1, 2013 -
#1 Studio 23 - Oscars 2013
#2 HBO - Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
#3 TV5 Monde -Fais Pa Ci, Fais Pa Ca - daughter stays at house of Dad
#4 TV5 Monde - Fais Pa Ci, Fais Pa Ca - Mom gets a job
#5 CNN - Oscars Red Carpet
#6 HBO - The Craigslist Killer
#7 GMA 7 - Born to be Wild
#8 HBO - Chill Factor
#9 Bio - My Ghost Story
#10 Bio - My Ghost Story
