MANILA, Philippines — In between masses, family reunions, travels and other traditions, here are some activities to try and movies to check out this Holy Week.
Holy Wednesday and Thursday
See a documentary on Jesus' life
Church of the Holy Sepulchre. ABS-CBN/Released
For the first time in its 31 years on the air, DZMM has produced a full-length audio-visual documentary in time for the Holy Week to be simulcast on DZMM Radyo Patrol 630 on AM radio and DZMM TeleRadyo on cable and ABS-CBN TVplus.
Starting Holy Monday (March 26), DZMM anchor Bro. Jun Banaag, O.P. has brought viewers with him in his pilgrimage to the Holy Land in the “SA LANDAS NI HESUS Maglakbay, Magnilay” documentary, where he visited historical places and holy sites that people only get to read in the Bible or hear about during the mass.
The documentary traces certain highlights in the life of Jesus, from his conception, birth and public ministry, to his passion, death and resurrection. This spiritual journey will bring us to Bethlehem where Jesus was born, to Nazareth where he grew up, and to other places like Capernaum, Bethany and Jerusalem where he left his mark preaching, healing the sick and performing miracles.
Bro. Jun will bring us to the sacred waters of the Jordan River where Jesus was baptized, and ride a wooden boat to the Sea of Galilee where Jesus walked on its waters.
Viewers will also see the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which now sits atop the Mount of Calvary, also known as Golgotha or Place of the Skull, where Christ was nailed to the cross. The Church also houses the cave that served as Jesus’ resting place and the site of his resurrection.
The first two parts of “Sa Landas ni Hesus Maglakbay, Magnilay” aired on Bro. Jun’s “Dr. Love Radio Show” on Holy Monday (March 26) and Holy Tuesday (March 27). Part 3 will be aired on Holy Wednesday (March 28) at 11 p.m.
DZMM Radyo Patrol 630 and DZMM TeleRadyo will air the documentary in full on Maundy Thursday (March 29) at 4 pm, on Good Friday (March 30) at 10:30am, and on Black Saturday (March 31) at 6:30 p.m.
Have a seafood diet
Gourmet Seafood Rolls. Photo release
During this Lenten Season, a seafood sandwich is ideal for those on the go.
For this, Costa Coffee introduces “Gourmet Seafood Rolls,” inspired by the beloved Filipino pandesal stuffed with flavorful and savory yet guilt-free fillings. When you need to skip the meat, try the Spiced Tuna Roll, Hawaiian Shrimp Roll or the new Flat Black, the Americano version of the coffee shop’s signature Flat White.
Good Friday
Binge-watch ‘A Series of Unfortunate Events’ Season 2
Scene from 'A Series of Unfortunate Events.'
“A Series of Unfortunate Events,” currently streaming on Netflix, will roll out 10 new episodes set to premiere on March 30.
The season picks up at when the Baudelaire orphans had just been dropped off by Mr. Poe at boarding school. Their future seems bright and hopeful because Count Olaf was finally behind bars. But as the trailer for the second season shows, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny’s misadventures with the mysterious count are far from over.
Black Saturday
Spielberg’s ‘Ready Player One’ is a must-not-miss masterpiece
Scene from 'Ready Player One'
From filmmaker Steven Spielberg comes the action adventure “Ready Player One,” based on Ernest Cline’s bestseller of the same name, which has become a worldwide phenomenon.
In the year 2045, the real world is a harsh place. The only time Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan) truly feels alive is when he escapes to the Oasis, an immersive virtual universe where most of humanity spend their days. In the Oasis, you can go anywhere, do anything, be anyone—the only limits are your own imagination. The Oasis was created by the brilliant and eccentric James Halliday (Mark Rylance), who left his immense fortune and total control of the Oasis to the winner of a three-part contest he designed to find a worthy heir. When Wade conquers the first challenge of the reality-bending treasure hunt, he and his friends—known as the High Five—are hurled into a fantastical universe of discovery and danger to save the Oasis and their world.
Three-time Oscar winner Spielberg (“Schindler’s List” [director and picture], and “Saving Private Ryan” [director]) directed the film from a screenplay by Zak Penn and Ernest Cline. It is based on the novel by Cline, which has spent more than 100 weeks on The New York Times Best Seller List, recently climbing to the #1 spot, as well as reaching #1 on Amazon’s Most Read Fiction chart.
Behind the scenes, Spielberg collaborated with Oscar-winning director of photography Janusz Kaminski (“Schindler’s List,” “Saving Private Ryan”), Oscar-winning production designer Adam Stockhausen (“The Grand Budapest Hotel”), Oscar-winning editor Michael Kahn (“Saving Private Ryan,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark”) and editor Sarah Broshar (“The Post”), and Oscar-nominated costume designer Kasia Walicka Maimone (“Moonrise Kingdom”). The score is by Oscar-nominated composer Alan Silvestri (the “Back to the Future” films, “Forrest Gump”).
The film will be distributed in 2D and 3D in select theatres and IMAX, by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company, and in select territories by Village Roadshow Pictures.
Catch the ‘Pacific Rim: Uprising’ showing on March 31
Scene from 'Pacific Rim: Uprising'
In time for the summer, “Pacific Rim: Uprising” brings the heat in IMAX theatres with its fast-paced, action-packed sequences with giant robots called Jaegers going toe to toe with interdimensional sea monsters called Kaiju.
Picking up ten years after the Battle of the Breach, where Jaegers first battled and defeated monstrous Kaijus, Jake Pentecost, played by John Boyega, struggles to find his place as an estranged Jaeger pilot drawn back to the force to once again rise up against the imminent threat of the alien sea monsters.
Dealing with his father’s shadow over him, who was the Battle of the Breach hero, Jake Pentecost trains a new breed of Jaeger fighters with his old friend and co-pilot Nate Lambert (Scott Eastwood) and learn that the biggest threat to humanity are not just the alien monsters.
See multi-awarded sci- fi horror flick ‘Ghost Land’
Soaking in the glory of multiple awards, the thrill-seeking horror “Ghostland” (aka Incident in a Ghost Land) is set to show us why it’s captivating and mind-boggling story is a must-watch horror film this 2018. With versatile actress Crystal Reed (“Teen Wolf”) as the main lead.
The film begins with a mother and her two daughters inheriting an old house, during their first night in their new home, murderers enter the home, putting Colleen in a situation where she must fight to save her daughters’ lives. When the girls suffer a terrible trauma during the night, their disparate personalities diverge even further.
The eldest daughter, Beth (Reed), becomes a famous horror author with a perfect family and life in Los Angeles, while her sister, Vera (Anastasia Philips), can’t cope, and loses her mind to an unshakable sense of paranoia. Sixteen years later the daughters and mother reunite at the house where Colleen and Vera continue to reside. It is then that strange events begin to take place.
Filled with horrific sound effects, jump scares and scary dolls, it leads us to ask ourselves, are our own demons define the horror in our lives? Or do the horror stories exist beyond the lines of fiction books?
The film won the Public Prize and the Grand Prize at the 2018 Festival international du film fantastique de Gérardmer, a horror and science-fiction film festival held in France since 1994.
Director Pascal Laugier who also directed the 2009 critically-acclaimed horror film “Martyrs” can’t wait for the public to see his newest masterpiece. ‘“Incident In A Ghost Land”’ is also the expression of the return of the repressed and perhaps of my ‘darkest side,”
“Beth lives with their ghosts, they speak to her, she wants to join them in excellence. I feel like this type of admiration and self-construction for someone in a society that is very derision-driven and tends to make the feeling of admiration somewhat ridiculous. “said Laugier.
The film co-stars Emilia Jones (“Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides”), Anastasia Philips (“Lucky 7”), Taylor Hickson (“Deadpool”), and Mylene Farmer.
"Ghostland" is set to scare everyone to their seats starting March 31 (Black Saturday) and is distributed by Axinite Digicinema.
Easter Sunday
Welcome Easter with colorful macarons
French macarons with a Filipino twist
Crisp on the outside, and soft and chewy at the core, the macaron (pronounced as ma-kah-rohn) offers a mix of textures and that slow melt-in-your-mouth goodness dessert lovers desire.
The pastry traces its origins to a classic Italian treat brought by Catherine de Medici to the French court, and the classic recipe has not changed – these mini meringues are still made of sugar, egg whites, and ground almonds.
Whereas the original Italian biscuit forms a single delicate shell, however, the more modern “Macaron Parisien,” created by Pierre Desfontaines for Laduree Patisserie in 1930, weds two shells with a tasty filling, usually a soft crème ganache and ground almonds.
Annabel Tanco, Bizu Groupe founder and chief executive officer, recalled how “very few people knew about macarons then, often confusing them with the sweet coconut-covered macaroons.”
Gradually, Filipinos came to appreciate the many varieties of the beloved almond pastry, enthusiastically embracing even flavor innovations such as salted duck egg. If Singapore has its Mao Shan Wang durian and Chinese lychee, and Tokyo has its Japanese matcha and yuzu, as homage to a tropical summer in the Philippines, Bizu Patisserie introduces its Filipino twists to the French macaron: ube, durian, “queso” and Malagos Tsokolate (Malagos chocolate), the award-winning “bean-to-bar” fine chocolate from Davao.
Adventurous foodies can try the fresh durian infused with buttercream filling. Romantics can relive childhood summers with a combination of local cheese and white chocolate ganache. Meanwhile, Bohol purple yam has been infused with buttercream filling. Likewise, there is the Davao dark chocolate ganache with a dark cocoa percentage of 65 percent.
“Macaron has a deceptively simple and streamlined aesthetic but it is actually very difficult to make. It takes a lot of baking skill and passionate artistry in creating this almond-based French pastry. That’s why we take pride in our 10 macaron varieties – all with less sugar, and more almonds,” said Tanco.
Dinosaur egg hunt, free Gary V concert
Photo release
Bonifacio Global City, in partnership with Church Simplified, will once again bring to the public “Walkway: Reflections on the Stations of the Cross,” a series of interactive art installations of the Passion of Christ.
Running on its 10th year, “Walkway” will be held along the stretch of Bonifacio High Street (from the Fully Booked block all the way to the One BHS Park) beginning until April 1, from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
On Easter Sunday, cute baby dinos will take over the BHS Activity Center for “Easter Dinoland.” Dress up the kids in their dino costume and let them go on an adventure by joining in an egg hunt to earn special treats.
Capping off the Easter celebration is a special concert of multi-awarded singer-songwriter Gary Valenciano, who will bring to us a soulful rendition of inspirational Christian music. Hip-hop and R&B singer Quest, and young indie artist Clara Benin are also set to open the free show at the BHS Amphitheatre starting 6 p.m. — Deni Rose M. Afinidad-Bernardo