Movie Review: Iron Man 3

Tony Stark had to start all over again to defeat The Ten Rings group in this
installment of the Iron Man saga.

Beware: You will see some spoilers here, so read at your own risk.

This is the first time I'm gonna do a movie review for Stu Traveled. I was invited to watch Iron Man 3 through a bloc screening sponsored by AppLabs right on my birthday, which happens to be the first screening day of the said movie.

The third installment of the Iron Man franchise started with a flashback scene featuring Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) at a New Year countdown party with Dr. Maya Hansen (Rebecca Hall), who was into a botanic research on regeneration. They met a certain Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce), who wanted to work together with Stark for what would become the Extremis virus. Fast forward to Christmas, a certain The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) of The Ten Rings terrorist group initiated a series of suicide bombings which curiously left not even a speck of the bombs in the sites. Stark issued a public challenge on The Mandarin to attack his mansion, which, as seen in the trailer, The Mandarin accepted. Presumed dead, Stark actually escaped from the attack and found himself in Rose Hill, Tennessee, where a bombing prior to the latest one (the scene where Tony's friend Happy Hogan [Jon Favreau] was severely hurt) took place. At Rose Hill, Tony, with his Iron Man suit crushed in the attack, had to start from scratch to get back at The Ten Rings, which happens to be led by Aldrich. Maya, whose research helped form the Extremis, was working beside Killian to create more viruses that turned ex-soldiers into suicide bombers. Add to the problems Tony faced was the anxiety disorder he got due to the events in The Avengers (if you haven't watched The Avengers, better grab a Blu-ray disk of the flick to get an idea about what happened to him). Thanks to a kid named Harley (Ty Simpkins), he and Stark repaired the suit, in time the terrorist group turned their attention on the President (William Sadler) and Tony's girlfriend Pepper (Gwyneth Paltrow). Tony and Rhodey (Don Cheadle) aka War Machine/Iron Patriot (whose suit was used by Aldrich's henchman Eric [James Badge Dale] to kidnap the president) went to battle sans the latter's suit. In the end, Rhodey got his suit back and escorted the president to safety, and Tony, thanks to a barrage of suits, beat Killian.

At first, I didn't have an idea about the significance of the opening scene. I knew Aldrich had a significance in the movie, but it was until the latter part of the film where it became clear that he wanted to show Tony what he just passed up. Also, I laughed out loud at Tony's conversations with Harley. It's a heartfelt moment to see the billionaire Stark talking to a kid that casual. The final scene was kinda intriguing to me because after the surgeons successfully removed the Extremis virus on Pepper (she was injected with the virus by Aldrich), they turned to Tony to finally remove the shrapnel that was inside his chest. The arc reactor at the middle of his chest, as we all know, is powering the electromagnet that is keeping the memory of the explosion that we saw in Iron Man 1 from piercing his heart. With the shrapnel removed, so is the electromagnet and so is the arc reactor. Tony, after marrying Pepper, threw the reactor to the sea. With that being the trademark of Iron Man, the final scene is suggesting that the Iron Man saga will end there. It left me some questions leading to Avengers 2. Will we see Robert Downey Jr. play Iron Man minus the arc reactor there? The only thing I know is that Marvel, Paramount, and Disney are still considering an Iron Man 4.

For this film, Happy Hogan, i.e. Jon Favreau, who actually directed the two prequels, passed the torch to another director, Shane Black. Black, for me, responded to Favreau's call. He even made IM3 more entertaining than at least IM1, something we should be expecting in the final part of a trilogy. He also succeeded on developing an Iron Man suit-less Tony Stark in the movie, showing another side of him. The Stark we saw in the film is almost like the pre-Iron Man Tony we saw in the first comic books. Black showed the lighter side of Stark, and he succeeded in not compromising the Iron Man we know.

On a scale of 1-10, I will give the perfect 10. That's how you should end a saga.

QC Comedy Bar Celebrates Anniversary Through Awesome Show

Two performers danced to the beat of "Harlem Shake" while doing a "The
King and I" themed number.

The Fahrenheit Cafe along E. Rodriguez Sr. Ave. in Quezon City celebrated its 10th anniversary with a dance-comedy show featuring the comedy bar's line of performers.

The show, entitled "A Decade of Fantasy", kicked off with an entertaining dance number followed by impersonations of various singers like Charlene, Sharon Cuneta, Rihanna, and Lady Gaga.

Also, the members of the Fahrenheit Cafe and Fitness Center were in full force in watching the show alongside a good number of walk-ins.

The anniversary show was a way of Fahrenheit of expressing gratitude to those who continue to patronize the said comedy bar and gym.

Sunset Party at Venice Piazza Sizzles People's Summer

Flow artists showcased their talents. Venice Piazza

The Venice Piazza in McKinley Hill in Taguig gave a summer treat to the partygoers through the Venice Sunset Party: Summer Spindependence in the said venue.

The beach-inspired free concert party at the Venice Piazza's open area was filled up with people from sunset even until late night as world-class flow artists displayed their stuff to kick things off. The Katribu Kolektib Drum Community also made sounds in the party with their reggae beats.

The summer party was highlighted by performances from Pedicab, Urbandub, Sandwich, and Franco. The four bands performed their hits like "Ang Pusa Mo", "First of Summer", "DVDx", and "Happy Days". Pedicab's lead vocalist Diego Mapa and fellow DJ Diego Castillo, who make up the duo The Diegos, added some more beats with their party music skills to pep up the late night.

DOTC Moves Laguindingan Airport Opening for Passenger Convenience

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) today announced that it has decided to push back the transfer of the gateway to Northern Mindanao from the old Lumbia Airport in Cagayan de Oro City to the new P 7.8-Billion Laguindingan Airport by one-and-a-half months to June 15, 2013 in order to avoid disrupting passengers’ travel plans over the summer.

The Transport Department has conducted a walk-through at the Laguindingan Airport and was very pleased with the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines’ (CAAP) preparations for the intended April 30 opening.  However, CAAP has received requests from airline companies to postpone the transfer until after the summer peak season, because the April 30 opening would require the cancellation of several daily trips.

According to the airline companies, their representatives were encountering difficulties in reaching a substantial number of passengers who had already purchased tickets for flights in April and May, to inform them of changes in their flight itineraries.

“It is in the best interest of the government and of the airlines to deliver safe and convenient services to the public,” said the DOTC. “As we took stock of the assessment of both CAAP and the airline companies that the Laguindingan Airport is already a safer alternative to the Lumbia Airport, we again listen to their inputs saying that postponing the transfer will be better for passenger convenience.”

“The postponement will give the airlines ample time to inform their customers of their new flight schedules at Laguindingan Airport.  This will lessen the possibility of disrupting travel plans and causing inconvenience to the riding public,” added the DOTC.

The airlines which operate at Cagayan de Oro are Cebu Pacific Air, Philippine Airlines, PAL Express, and Zest Air. They serve a combined total average of over 2,000 passengers daily.  

The Laguindingan Airport is a key infrastructure project which is crucial to unlocking the Cagayan de Oro-Iligan Corridor to more tourism- and agriculture-oriented activities.

The government has previously announced that it will be temporarily operated by CAAP using Visual Flight Rules (VFR) until its air navigation equipment is fully in place by May 2014.

High Investor Confidence in DOTC AFCS Project Attracts Major Players

A total of nine (9) consortia involving major local and foreign conglomerates, banks, and IT companies submitted eligibility documents to the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) last Friday (April 12), in an effort to qualify as bidders for the P 1.72-Billion Contactless Automatic Fare Collection System (AFCS) Public-Private Partnership Project.

“We are very pleased with the investor turnout for the AFCS Project. Serious players from the transportation, IT, banking, and retail industries–both local and foreign–all came out to seek pre-qualification to participate in the bidding of the project,” the Transport Department said.

The DOTC believes that this is proof of high investor confidence in the project, as well as in the agency itself.

“The fact that these major groups want to be the our private sector partner for the AFCS Project only goes to show their trust and confidence in the Department, and in our open, fair, and transparent bidding process,” added the DOTC.

The 9 consortia which submitted their qualification documents are:

• AF Consortium, composed of BPI Card Finance Corporation, Metro Pacific Investments Corporation, Smart Communications, Inc., Globe Telecom, Inc., AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp., and NTT Data Corporation.

AF Consortium will also rely on the required experience of Bank of the Philippine Islands, Octopus Transactions Ltd., SMRT International Pte. Ltd., Cubic Transportation Systems (Australia) Pty. Ltd., Accenture, Inc., MSI Global Private Ltd., and Indra Sistemas, S.A.

• Comworks Consortium, composed of Comworks, Inc., Philippine Gaming Management Corp., Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp., Acer, Inc., Infochamp Systems, Corp., and Berjaya Philippines, Inc.

• E-Trans Solutions Joint Venture, Inc. Consortium, composed of Tera Investments, Inc., Eastwest Banking Corp., Sagesoft Solutions, Inc., Pilipinas Micro-Matrix Technology (PMT Joint Venture), Inc., and Pulsar Avancer Technologie, Inc.

E-Trans Consortium will also rely on the required experience of Kentkart EGE Elektronik San. Ve Tic. A.S., Kentkart Marmara Elektronik Turizm San. Ve Tic. A.S., Kentkart Cukurova Elektronik San. Ve Tic. A.S., and JTKC Equities, Inc.

• Lamco Consortium, composed of Lamco Paper Products Co., Inc., New San Jose Builders, Inc., Landbank of the Philippines, and NEC Philippines, Inc.

Lamco Consortium will also rely on the required experience of Busan Transport Corp. and Samwon FA Co., Ltd.

• Mega Lucky United Consortium, composed of Asia United Bank Corporation, Dignitas Equity, Mega Cellular Network, Inc., and Gravitas 777.

Mega Lucky Consortium will also rely on the required experience of Korea Smart Card Corp. and LG CNS Co. Ltd.

• Megawide-Suyen-Eurolink Consortium, composed of Megawide Construction Corp., Suyen Corp., and Eurolink Network International Corp.

Megawide-Suyen-Eurolink Consortium will also rely on the required experience of EZ-Link Pte. Ltd. and China National Software and Service Co., Ltd.

• MTD-PRLM Consortium, composed of MTD Capital BHD and Puregold Realty Leasing and Management, Inc.

MTD-PRLM Consortium will also rely on the required experience of Puregold Price Club, Inc., Maybank Philippines, Inc., and Transit Link Pte. Ltd.

• San Miguel Transport Solutions Consortium, composed of Optimal Infrastructure Development, Inc., Catchweight Holdings, Inc., Deltacrest Holdings, Inc., and Allcard Plastics Philippines, Inc.

San Miguel Consortium will also rely on the required experience of Petron Corp., Philippine National Bank, Singapore Technologies Electronics, Ltd., Korea Railroad Corp., Korail Networks Co., Ltd., Vix Technology (East Asia), Ltd., and San Miguel Corporation.

• SM Consortium, composed of SM Investments Corp., BDO Capital and Investment Corp., Advanced Card Systems, Ltd., and Pentacapital Investment Corp.

SM Consortium will also rely on the required experience of SM Retail, Inc., BDO Unibank, Inc., and Goldsign Data Company, Ltd.

The joint DOTC-LRTA Pre-Qualification, Bids, and Awards Committee (PBAC) has a maximum of twenty-five (25) days from April 12 to evaluate the qualification documents submitted by the 9 consortia, and to announce the shortlisted groups. Actual bidding is scheduled to take place in the third quarter of this year.

Energizer's Lighting Project Kicks Off Tomorrow

One Million Lights Philippines

Energizer Philippines, together with One Million Lights Philippines, will start its lighting project entitled "Spreading Positivenergy" tomorrow at Bgy. San Rafael in Antipolo City.

As part of their advocacy to "light up the lives" of the Filipino communities, Energizer and OMLP will be giving 300 solar-powered lights to Bgy. San Rafael being the first beneficiaries of the said lighting project. They will also travel to different rural areas in the country to give out lights to their constituents. The same lighting project is also being held in remote areas in Argentina, Kenya, and Ethiopia.

The SM Store+Parisian Summer Giveaway

Hey guys! Join The SM Store & Parisian Summer Giveaway and get a chance to win a PHP1,000 gift certificate and a bag from Parisian!

Here's how:

1. Simply follow @thesmstore (http://twitter.com/thesmstore) and @smparisian (http://twitter.com/smparisian) on Twitter.

2. Tweet "I want to win @thesmstore @SMParisian Summer Giveaway! #thesmstoreparisiansummer"

3. Attach the promo poster to the tweet

Promo runs from April 08-12, 2013 only! Let's go!