Dirty Old Musical (Spotlight Artists Centre)

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One-hit wonder the Bench Boys are forced to reunite for a benefit concert to raise funds for hospitalized member Bebong (Ricky Davao). A lot has changed since their only hit song charted 30 years ago. Eugene (Robert Seña) lives a quiet family life as an accountant. Greggy (Bo Cerrudo) becomes an alcoholic after his wife leaves him for a doctor. Stanley (Carlo Orosa) now calls himself Stephanie. Spanky (Nonie Buencamino) is still living the bachelor life dating a girl half his age. Freddie (Jett Pangan) comes back from Seattle with arrogance and grudges in tow. A young musical ingenue is tapped to be the overall musical director of the show. Pro-bono. The son of Rose (Ima Castro), he never knew his father, which might be one of the members of the band after all. As they bask in their glory days and bemoan the inevitable signs of getting old, the life of their friend depends on their ability to come up with a united plan despite their differences.

Ulan

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As a young child, Maya (Nadine Lustre) has always been inquisitive and curious about her environment. Raised by a superstitious grandmother, she witnesses the marriage of two tikbalangs one rainy afternoon, which supposedly explains the unlikely combination of sun and rain that day. Feeling unlucky in love, she feels like her affinity with the rain has cursed her for life as she suffers from one heartbreak to another. Just when she promises not to let herself be hurt by heartbreak any longer, she meets Peter (Carlo Aquino) on a rainy day. The two tread with caution yet eventually fall for one another. As she tries to open her heart anew, she ends up crying on the lap of a raging typhoon who tells her as a child that one day she will experience the biggest tragedy of life, which is the inevitable death of love itself or the ability thereof.

Captain Marvel

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A soldier is finally given a mission alongside an elite Kree force she has always longed to be a part of. When she is ambushed by the enemy and her mind is probed for useful information, the bits and pieces of lost memories begin to come back, promising to shine light on her hazy and forgotten past. Crash landing on a distant planet named C-53, Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) realizes that she has lived a life there and is determined to put together all pieces of the puzzle. Almost arrested by SHIELD agent Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) for causing public commotions one after another, the unlikely duo team up and discover not just a big scandal buried deep within the cabinet files of the Air Force, but also an intergalactic war that has Earth caught in the crossfire.

The Favourite

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Her majesty Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) heavily relies on a select group of people to run her kingdom. One of them is her trusted confidante Sarah Churchill (Rachel Weisz), the duchess of Marlboro and her childhood friend. The two share a bond that goes beyond platonic, satisfying one another in ways that would be deemed scandalous in the time period they are in. Abigail Masham (Emma Stone) was once a lady but has since fallen into rough times due to her irresponsible father’s gambling ways. She seeks the assistance of her cousin Sarah to be employed in the royal kitchen. Her being street smart impresses both duchess and queen. Soon enough, she is on her way up the social ladder, gaining the monarch’s attention and spiting her cousin who is slowly falling from grace. In this game of politics and wit, who will end up as the favorite?

Alone/Together

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UP Fine Arts student Christine (Liza Soberano) doubles as a tour guide at the National Museum as a part-time job. Stopping in front of Luna’s Spoliarium, she informs her guests that the artwork has inspired a variety of works in different mediums, including a misspelled single from the Eraserheads called “Spolarium”. Pre-Med student Rafael (Enrique Gil) begs to differ and gives her a copy of the album as proof. A friendship is formed and quickly blossoms into young love. Naïve and still idealistic, the two of them plan their lives together while enjoying the moment, with the possibility of not ending up together not crossing their minds even once. She wants to hone her craft through internships in several museums abroad with the backing of her stellar academic record. He wants to be a successful doctor but seems lost in the moment. Five years later they are no longer together, until one day they meet once more.

Waitress (Atlantis Productions)

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Small-town waitress and pie baker Jenna (Joanna Ampil) finds out that she is pregnant. What should be a cause for celebration brings about an epiphany that she is not that happy with her life so far. Her husband Earl (George Schulze) is conceited and self-centered and having a child with him is not something she imagined her life would be. Deep inside she has always wanted to pursue her passion for baking. To ensure that she is healthy to carry the baby, she pays the local Ob-Gyn a visit. Dr. Pomatter (Bibo Reyes) is new at the clinic and is immediately smitten with Jenna and her tasty pies. It doesn’t take long until they engage in an extra-marital affair. When she finds out about a big-time pie baking contest, she sees this as an opportunity to leave everything behind and start anew with her soon to be born kid. Can she really escape from her current reality or will she be stuck in an existential crisis forever?

First Love

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Finding success in Vancouver after two decades of trying different occupations, risk analyst Nick (Aga Muhlach) decides to liquidate all of his shares at his company so he can leave them to Simon (Edward Barber). Optimist Ali (Bea Alonzo) works at a bookstore where she also sells her own postcards. She wants to be a nature photographer, but her ailment makes her wary of thinking about long-term goals. Even so, she is still hopeful that she will eventually find a compatible heart donor one day. Fate brings them together, leading them to meet and get to know one another better. But in a love story where the risk of losing one another is at an all-time high, would it be wise to bet and invest?

Lungs (9 Works Theatrical)

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Man (Jake Cuenca) and Woman (Sab Jose) reflect on whether it would be responsible for them to procreate and introduce another human being to the world. She cites publications as well as her PhD papers on how adding another baby to the planet’s booming population would eventually contribute to the world’s dwindling resources. He is puzzled and seems regretful to have asked. As the two exchange points of view regarding interweaving themes such as parenthood, childbirth, as well as timely issues such as climate change, the couple discover things about one another that they won’t necessarily like. Will their similarities triumph for them to end up as proud parents of their own child or will their differences overcome everything they have shared so far and lead to a bad breakup?

Venom

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Bioengineering giant Life Foundation has found extraterrestrial lifeforms called symbiotes and takes them back to Earth. As their spacecraft crash lands in a forest in Borneo, one of the aliens breaks loose and hops from host to host until it makes its way all the way to San Francisco. Investigative journalist Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) is assigned to interview the corporation’s CEO Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed). Using his lawyer girlfriend Anne Weying’s (Michelle Williams) access to classified information, he grills the executive and gets fired in the process. She also breaks up with him after getting dismissed from her own job. Caught in a downward spiral, he seeks revenge by breaking into the lab, but gets infected by one of the symbiotes who goes by the name of Venom.

A Star Is Born (2018)

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Long giving up on her aspirations as a singer/songwriter, Ally (Lady Gaga) works as a waitress in the morning and sidelines as the intermission act in a drag bar after shift. Drunk and high after a big concert, country superstar Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper) finds himself in the same venue, watching Ally perform her own rendition of La Vie en Rose. He spots not only a potential love interest, but also a promising talent that can make it big if given the chance. The two spend the night bar hopping and grocery shopping. When he asks her to sing one of her original compositions at his concert, what follows is a whirlwind romance leading to a rapid ascent to superstardom. As one career skyrockets, the other nosedives. Will fame eventually cause their romance’s downfall?