*Minor Spoilers Ahead*

Eggsy (Taron Egerton) is back in the field, but this time, in a bit more dire situation as the British underground organization that he belongs to is attacked by a secretive new world group dubbed The Golden Circle spearheaded by kooky but deadly antagonist, Poppy (Julianne Moore). With his back against the wall, he and his trustee ally, Merlin (Mark Strong) cross the pond to America to seek help from their Stateside counterparts known as the Statesman. Backed-up by some new allies like Champ (Jeff Bridges), Tequila (Channing Tatum), Whiskey (Pedro Pascal) and Ginger Ale (Halle Berry), they will work together to foil their new adversary’s evil plans. On top of that, survival of Harry (Colin Firth) remains to be the looming mystery surrounding the film.

Taron Egerton as Eggsy, Channing Tatum as Tequila and Halle Berry as Ginger Ale in ‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle’/20th Century Fox

With an impressive cast chockful of industry veterans, it is hard to not be interested with “Kingsman: The Golden Circle.” But for movie fans, the movie is more than just an assembly of big stars, much attention is given to it because of the person behind the camera for the project -- Matthew Vaughn who was notorious for turning down sequels. From “Kick-Ass” to “X-Men: First Class,” the British director seems to be content with just setting up a potential franchise until he came across this budding franchise.

Taron Egerton as Eggsy in ‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle’/20th Century Fox

The sophomore outing from the franchise is highly anticipated after its predecessor surprised everyone with how well crafted of a project it was. But the question now is, how did the sequel fare compared to its very well received predecessor. The verdict, just like the film is a little bit more complicated.

Channing Tatum as Agent Tequila and Halle Berry as Ginger Ale in ‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle’/20th Century Fox

“The Golden Circle” definitely upped almost everything. From the stunning visuals to its set pieces, going global in itself is a major upgrade from a seemingly small story which is ironic given how the first film’s threat was perceived world wide -- not to mention how fun it was seeing Bridges’ back to his western roots. It just makes sense that this is the organic progression of the story. Sure, we have lost Roxy (Sophie Cook) and JB, but it was nice seeing the franchise have a clear narrative trajectory rather than being just stuck in a rut, doing the same things over and over again.

If you think the gore in “The Secret Service” is already too much to handle, its sequel just doubles down on it. The movie is not Rated R for nothing anyway. This one, however, fully embraces its freedom that exploding heads and bleeding people seem to already be the norm. Remember they doubles down on it? “The Golden Circle” literally grinds alive people, makes their flesh into burger patties and feeds it to other people. Too much? For some maybe, but in the realm of this franchise, not totally improbable. Especially when it is basically a nod to the over-the-top ‘60s spy thriller that most of the time borderlines insanity.

Unfortunately, just as how “The Golden Circle” ramps up some aspects of its predecessor, it scales back on the other. The action sequences are a little less exciting than those of its predecessor, especially with the jaw-dropping Church sequence featuring Firth -- which in itself is already surprising to see given his usual dramatic expertise. The revolving camera shot trick is once again utilized, but it just doesn’t have the angst and charisma that the Church action set piece had.

One shall never underestimate Vaughn’s flare for twists, especially with the “Kingsman” franchise. He was able to cleverly execute one in the original film with Michael Caine’s Chester King apparently a cohort in Samuel L. Jackson’s Valentine’s plans. However, compared to its predecessor, this one seems a little lame, maybe event a bit melodramatic. It was nowhere near the gasp-inducing reveal in “The Secret Service” about Chester crossing his very own organization. That said, it was a bold attempt and is a sure great callback to the traitor’s TV gig.

Colin Firth as Harry and Taron Egerton as Eggsy in ‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle’/20th Century Fox

More than anything, “Kingsman: The Golden Circle” is a heck of a great time in the theater. While it does not quite surpass the lightning in a bottle success that was “Kingsman: The Secret Service,” it is able to maintain everything that we have loved about the original film. True, some of the cast are barely involved in the whole kerfuffle, but everybody got their due. Most especially, despite a plethora of characters, the film remains focused and not all over the place. The expansion of the lore with the inclusion of the Statesman opens up a lot of opportunities in the future and and judging by how the film left it off, it appears that Vaughn already has a plan with regard to where he wants to take this franchise.

Watch full trailer of ‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle’:

Program September 2017 LET Board Exam

MANILA, Philippines- Jervi Li, the woman who impersonated veteran broadcast journalist Karen Davila in a video that has gone viral, has become the latest social media sensation.


Now more popularly known as “KaladKaren Davila”, Li quickly gained online fame after Facebook user Michael Tanchaco posted a video of her imitating Davila. In the video, Li can be seen mimicking Davila as she crosses a river along with other members of the TV crew in a supposed episode of The Correspondents, the longest-running investigative documentary show of ABS-CBN hosted by Davila which aired from November 17, 1998 to October 22, 2010.

Li’s spot-on impersonation of the 46-year-old Pinay journalist quickly captured the attention of netizens with the video amassing over 10,000 shares, more than 25,000 reactions and nearly 725,000 views since it was posted on Monday, September 4.

Netizens weren’t the only ones impressed by Li’s talent. When asked to comment about the viral video, the ABS-CBN news anchor said: "Absolute good vibes! Ang galing niya!! Made me miss The 'Correspondents'! Congrats Kaladkaren.”

Aside from the voice and manner of speaking, Li and Davila also have similarities career-wise. Both graduated from the College of Mass Communications at the University of the Philippines Diliman. While Davila mainly worked either as a reporter or TV and radio host in both GMA and ABS-CBN networks, Li worked in the same industry as a creative writer and floor director for GMA’s Eat Bulaga and writer for TV 5. According to an ABS-CBN report, Li currently works as the head writer of a reality show in a cable channel.

The Facebook page KaladKaren Davila has been created for the latest social media sensation.

Watch her hilarious videos below.

MANILA, Philippines - The complete list of room assignments for September 2017 licensure exam for teachers (LET) in Catarman (Northern Samar), General Santos and Tacloban has been released online.


The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) regional offices announced the names of qualified examinees together with the room, school and address of test center venue for the nationwide conduct of LET on Sunday, September 24.

Check the list of room assignment for September 2017 LET in the following areas:

Catarman

• Elementary
• Secondary

General Santos City

• Elementary
• Secondary

Tacloban

The Proclamation, signed by President Rodrigo Duterte on September 19, 2017, was made "in solidarity with the people's call against all excesses and shortcomings of the government, and with the people's desire to uphold the highest standards of integrity, efficiency, and accountability in government."

It was corollary to Executive Order No. 292 (s. 1987) which stated that the President may declare a status or condition of public moment or interest by way of proclamation.

Further, the Proclamation acknowledged the people's freedom of speech and right to peacefully assemble. Hence, it urged local government units (LGUs) to forgo rally permits during the National Day of Protest.

September 21 marks the 45th anniversary of the declaration of martial law by the late President Marcos.

Various reports said that militants are set to schedule demonstrations on Thursday to protest the government’s war on drugs and deaths being linked to it as well as other issues on Duterte administration.