Delighting in the Tuscani Supremo with Shamcey Supsup

by Stephanie Mayo

Pizza Hut's marketing manager Edgar Allan Caper and Shamcey Supsup, displaying the Tuscani Supremo

Last October 26, I was invited to an exclusive bloggers' event: Tuscani Supremo Pizza Day. With Miss Shamcey Supsup! And the launching of Pizza Hut's Flavor Your Life promo.

Not only was I able to see the visually striking 2011 Miss Universe 3rd runner up, another Filipino pride, but she also personally served me (well, not just me, but all the invited bloggers) a slice of Supremo!


***


Earlier this October, two weeks before the bloggers' meet and greet with Shamcey, an editor of mine chose Pizza Hut Bistro in Trinoma to hold a meeting with the contributing writers. As I took my seat in the long table, I glanced at the fresh super family size pizza on the table. My mind was on other things, and I was my usual distracted self, but I noticed that the pizza before me looked different. It had black olives-- which I always love on my pizza, yes, but it did not look like your usual Pizza Hut pan pizza. It looked thinner...crispier...more colorful and rich with toppings.


I picked up a slice and took my first bite. That was my first Tuscani Supremo experience. And it was an unexpected reaction. When was the last time I had eaten pizza this good?! I asked myself. It was rich...full! The perfect combination of flavors. Each bite was satisfying.

"Ang sarap nito ah?!" I exclaimed to Mhel, who was sitting across from me. "Ano'ng pizza ito???"

She picked up a cardboard menu and showed it to me with a hand flourish, pretending to be in an infomercial: "Pizza Hut's new Tuscani pizza. Supremo!" she smiled, chuckling at her little demonstration.

"Ang saraaaap!" I repeated, grabbing my second slice. "Tuscani" rings a bell, I thought. Then I remembered the Shamcey Supsup Pizza Hut commercial, when my sister and I looked up at the TV screen upon hearing the word "Tuscani," because the emphasis was on the CA. "Tus-CA-ni." Not the Italian region "TUS-cany."

I took the menu from Mhel and read what's on this fantastic-tasting pizza that I was happily devouring, curious as to what makes it so darn tasty...and different.

By golly, it had 9 toppings! Beef, black olives with garlic and olive oil roasted bell peppers, Italian sausage, mozzarella cheese, onions, parmesan, pepperoni, and smoked ham, on a bed of premium tomato sauce.


I was hooked.

Pizza Hut's Tuscani Supremo: The Ultimate Pizza

***

The pizza experience stayed with me in the coming days, and I would sometimes randomly include it in conversations with friends and family, "Uy, ang sarap ng bagong pizza ng Pizza Hut! Yung SUPREMO!" I couldn't forget the taste. "Para siyang thin crust, pero mataba lang ng kaunti. Maraming toppings. At siksik sa flavors! May black olives, smoked ham, oninions..."

And sometimes out of nowhere, I would burst out, "Gusto ko ng Supremo!"

I wished for another chance to eat Supremo.

Two weeks later, I got my wish.


Exclusive Bloggers' Pizza Day with Shamcey Supsup!

***

So last October 26 was a great night. Shamcey Supsup looked regal in her little black casual dress, stunningly beautiful and elegant, with the perfect poise. I've seen international beauty pageant contestants before in person, but Shamcey looked like a goddess. As soon as she walked into the bistro, smiling widely, we were struck by her presence. A real beauty indeed!

We were served with a slice of All Meat Tuscani pizza with pasta-- but my heart sill belonged to Supremo. I was so fixated on the Supremo pizza that I only learned on that day that Tuscani had four other flavors: All Meat, Roast Beef, 3 Cheese Bacon and Spinach, and BBQ Chicken. Shamcey declared that her favorite was 3 Cheese Bacon and Spinach...but I was doubtful. Could there be any other pizza tastier than Supremo?! Honestly?! I wondered in awe.

Tuscani All Meat flavor pizza, the only other flavor I was able to taste aside from the Supremo

Pizza Hut Bistro at Glorietta 4 that night was buzzing with excitement. I met and chatted with fellow bloggers and obsessively took pictures of Shamcey and the Supremo pizza. My sister and I were so in awe of this beauty going around serving pizza to the guests that we didn't realize it when she finally stopped at our table! We were just standing near her, snapping pictures like papparazzi, missing the fact that Shamcey just plopped slices of Supremo on our plates! As soon as Shamcey slipped a slice on my sister's plate, my sister breathed a loud "Wow!" and Shamcey laughed out laud, throwing her head back in laughter, her perfect, glossy hair glinting in the dim lights of the bistro.

Then we had our pictures taken with her, Shamcey looking like a towering goddess in a sea of mortals. And whenever she spoke, you could see the smart, articulate, bright girl that impressed the world with her answer at the Miss Universe pageant.


And she genuinely loved Tuscani.

With the stunning Shamcey. She's wearing heels and I'm wearing flats here, okay? Haha.




***

So it was time to enjoy my Supremo. I looked at my precious slice of Supremo. Then took a bite. Instantly, the memory of my first Supremo experience rushed back to me, that gastronomical delight that took me by surprise two weeks ago at the Trinoma branch. It still tasted absolutely amazing. It's just the right crisp, saltiness, texture, tomato sauce, the mozzarella cheese...the roasted bell peppers, the black olives...ohhh, it was perfect! It's like reuniting with a long-lost friend. Where have you been the last two weeks??? I thought.

When Pizza Hut's new media marketing manager Jean Lander Agor came to my table with a microphone so I could express my feelings about Supremo, I burst, "It's...an explosion of flavors!" I said to a room full of people in Greenbelt 4's Pizza Hut Bistro, including Shamcey Supsup.

"An explosion of flavors!" I told Jean, Pizza Hut Inc.'s new media marketing manager

***

Shamcey enjoyed her Supremo that night, some bloggers asked her some questions, which she answered with confidence, wit, and humor, delighting the bloggers even more. More camera flashes, clinking of glasses, laughter, the smell of Tuscani wafting inside the bistro...it was a good night, indeed. Then we took turns posing at the photo booth, including Shamcey, who enjoyed posing for the camera.

The bloggers were handed an envelope each. I ripped it open when Shamcey was long gone and left us bloggers to mingle and talk and eat some more. I opened my envelope. Inside was a 500-peso gift certificate. And a Palm Card!

Quickly, I went to the counter, the gift certificate on my hand, and I ordered a takeout of...guess what? Tuscani Supremo. Super Family size. Joy! :)

Puss in Boots (2011)

El gato!

Who the heck does not know the swashbuckling, debonair, fighter and lover Puss in Boots? The guys behind the now-over Shrek series gave our favorite Espanol outlaw gato his own full length feature film knowing very well how the delightfully contrasting character of Puss, the generic orange-and-white tomcat with the deep and sensual, latin lover voice of Antonio Banderas, has captivated the world, going down as the cutest animated thing in animation history.

In Puss in Boots, a prequel to the Shrek series, we are reeled back in time to discover the roots and the legend of Puss and his Corinthian-leather boots and how he came to be an outlaw. And then we are shot back to present day where Puss is reunited after seven years with his childhood friend-turned-enemy: the breakfasty smelling Humpty Alexander Dumpty (Zach Galifianakis), a bad news egg with self-esteem issues and whose self-pitying nature has evolved into the dangerous geek-outcast-turned-mastermind-terrorist kind. A minion and a sidekick by nature, Puss reluctantly agrees to team up with the apologetic Humpty to the greatest score ever: steal the magic beans from an old, ugly, and burly married couple, Jack and Jill (Billy Bob Thornton and Amy Sedaris), climb the beanstalk, and snatch the golden eggs from the sky castle-- the stolen goods a way to redeem Puss' reputation in his hometown of San Ricardo. But the heist team also involves what Puss lovingly describes as an "attractive devil woman," Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek).

Twisting our beloved childhood fairy tales for humor is the core element of the film's screenplay. However, it will barely tickle your funny bone (unless you laugh easily). Although the popular fairy tale characters are impressively expressive and creatively modified, and the plot well-crafted, the humor is thin and some of the lines are plain and predictable that those looking for gut laughter will go home unsatisfied.  Puss and Kitty Softpaws' playful banter and inside jokes are targeted to the adults but can only go so far as to make us smile. Probably the best laughter-inducing factor here is Humpty, whose uncoordinated and limited movements due to his shape will crack you up all the time.

The Dreamworks animation is superb; the details, the colors, and the effects are polished, rich and vivid, and the trip up to the sky castle is breathtakingly beautiful. And with the 3D effect, Puss' cuteness was multiplied a hundred times, the cuteness making you a little crazy and you just want to grab the gigantic 3D face of Puss and smother him with kisses. 

Puss in Boots, directed by Shrek director Chris Miller, is a film oozing with cuteness in every corner, making your dopamine levels go all silly but will leave you itching for more wit and humor. Recommended for cat lovers, visual people, the kids, and the kids at heart, Puss in Boots is a visually striking, unexceptional adventure story more fitting to be watched in 3D for maximum visual experience.

6.5 out of 10 stars

Now showing in theaters near you.


From my Official PEx Movie Review

Movie Review: No Strings Attached (2011)

Do not see this movie.

There are bad movies that quickly fade from your memory, movies that are simply filed under the Forgettable Movies Folder. But there are bad movies that you will always remember. And one of them is No Strings Attached.

Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher are oddly paired up in this very confused romantic comedy about friends. With benefits. Yup, no romance. Just sex. Just like Timberlake and Kunis' Friends with Benefits.

Natalie, whose head is strangely too big in this movie (literally) plays a neurotic MD who is emotionally messed up and terrified of commitments (it makes her throat constrict or something) while Kutcher plays her lovestruck sex buddy, who follows Natalie like a lost puppy, hoping for a real romantic relationship.

So what makes No Strings Attached an unforgettably bad movie? Weird casting, confused genre, totally off music, desperate humor, and badly written story. The film markets itself as a romantic comedy, but the movie is as messed up and confused as it characters, inserting melancholy music (as if someone is dying) in comedic moments, or humor that simply pops up in unexpected scenes...in a bad way. Kuchter is anything but funny. Instead, in this comedy, he is a serious lovelorn character, devoid of sense of humor, as if he were acting out a script of a heavy drama rather than a comedy. And Portman's character does not match her somber, serious drama-face, her playful antics will make you look away in embarrassment.

And the story, my goodness. Not only is it confused, it's pretentious and trite, with scenes desperate for laughs, desperate for approval, and trying too hard to be cute and un-cliche-ish, embarrassingly pointing to itself, saying, "I'm so funny, this is your cue to laugh! Ha! Ha!" "Look, we are so original we thought of a period (i.e., menstruation) mix!" Enter music: Leona Lewis' "Bleeding in Love."

No Strings Attached is one of those films that makes me a bit angry because it's pretentious and incredibly bad, like an insult.


0 out of 5 stars

Movie Review: Friends with Benefits (2011)

Friends with Benefits defines the modern romantic era: the shameless, acceptable lifestyle of today's dating scene.

Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis are two young professionals who met post-heartbreak, clicked, and decided to just be friends—and enjoy a sport together: sex with each other. No strings attached. No emotional investment. Just pure, unadulterated sex. And, of course, their friendship gets predictably complicated.

There's definitely something unique about this "post-modern" romantic comedy. No, it's not the story. What's surprisingly new here is that it's taken the term "quick-paced" into a whole new meaning. It is breakneck-speedy. Literally. The shots and scenes edited and cut with crazy speed that the movie feels like a two-hour trailer. Never seen anything like it before. Before you can appreciate one scene or one shot, it's already skipped to another.

Directed by Will Gluck who brought us the hilarious Easy A, the movie Friends with Benefits prides itself for being smart-alecky and witty and unorthodox and cool, even casting Patricia Clarkson as Mila Kunis' "cool" mom as if to further reiterate the movie's "coolness"— and bringing back some good stuff from Easy A— even adding a cameo of Emma Stone to thrill the fans. However, it only came off as a sad corny cling-to-the-past style.

But Friends with Benefits lacks that unique intelligent wit and delicious substance that Easy A has satisfied us so richly. It's got too many romping scenes (of course!) but they are somehow used to make up for its lack of a great screenplay . The characters have presence, yes. Mila Kunis is entertaining to watch (her wafer-thin Black Swan body still intact), her bright personality filling the screen. Timberlake, who I honestly find incredibly unattractive, constantly reminds everyone that he's a musical individual and from time to time would belt out lines in his high-pitched unattractive voice, which makes my skin crawl. Woody Harrelson as a GQ sports editor incites a good chuckle, though.

Aside from that, there's nothing in the movie that sticks. It's self-conscious. And it will take you, wide-eyed, in a whirlwind ride towards the end: the scenes are too fast, the characters talk too fast, the music too fast, like the movie is in a terrible hurry to bring you to its end—as if fearful that you might notice what it lacks: a very good story.

1.5 out of 5 stars

Timeline Before Doomsday

North Island, Seychelles: the perfect location to wait for the end of the world.

FAMILY RADIO's Doomsday-spurting Harold Camping predicted another Doomsday date. Last May 21st 2011 was his fourth failed prediction, but it seems like the guy is not giving up. Admitting he was five months out on his May 21st prediction, we will after all, according to him, experience full physical rapture on Friday, October 21st.

Let us pretend October 21st will be the End of All Things (The Bible says only God knows when, Harold! Tsk, tsk!) and here is the list or timeline of how I will spend my time before we are wiped out of existence in 72 hours.

MY TIMELINE:

-October 18th, 2011, 11:21 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. (Manila time): I will write a long letter to each of my family member, telling them how much I love them and all the things I'm sorry for.

-5:00 p.m.: My family and I, with the cat, will take the 10-hour flight to North Island, Seychelles, the perfect location to wait for the end of the world. On the plane, I will hand my letters to them. And during the long flight, I will watch the best collection of contemporary short films from around the world. Intense, profound short films. Not one will disappoint me. Each film would satisfy my soul.

-October 18th, we will land on the island at 11:00 p.m, Tuesday (3:00 a.m. Wednesday in Manila). We will get 5 hours sleep of luxury, or probably explore the island at night and enjoy a luxurious Robinson Crusoe-like existence until the following day, October 19th.

-October 20th, Thursday, 5:00 a.m. Will take a jet plane to the nearest worship congregation and worship God. Then after the service, I will spend more time praying.

-1:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.: Will film and produce the best 2-minute short film. Will post it online and entertain and touch the world with my story. The cast, of course, is my family. And the cat. Yes, a two-minute POWERFUL film. It's going to be the last most beautiful short film mankind will ever see before Doomsday.

Brilliant North Island sky

-7:00 p.m. to 12 midnight before the clock strikes October 21st, my family and I, and the cat, will lie in the soft, fine North Island sand. We will cry, laugh, and tell stories. We will simply spend the last hours lying on our backs under the brilliant night sky, watching shooting star after shooting star, and just talking about anything and everything until the sky falls down on us. *

Movie Review: No Other Woman (2011)

After reading raves about the movie on Facebook (some even saw it more than once at the cinemas) I decided to watch No Other Woman myself. If anything goes wrong, I told myself, a story on infidelity is always entertaining. By default. And the mere presence of Derek Ramsay onscreen would be another consolation.

And so I asked a dear friend of mine to watch the movie with me and see what the fuss is all about.

No Other Woman, released by the country's leading local mainstream movie production house, Star Cinema, stars three sexy actors: Derek Ramsay, as the philandering husband; Cristine Reyes, as the wife; and Anne Curtis, as the other woman.

We sometimes watch movies to see beautiful people, and No Other Woman has made sure of that: Ramsay looked more chiseled and toned than ever, looking like the perfect male specimen; Anne Curtis was groomed to the maximum level of hotness (the long, wavy, volumized hair, the barely there swimsuits, and outfits that maximize her sexiness to its full potential); and Cristine Reyes was made to look too pretty, with her own brand of sexiness.

But what about the story? It is well-structured. Quick-paced with no unnecessary frills or ridiculously boring long shots. No, it's not boring. And it is emotionally engaging hugely because we can relate one way or another-- either we have loved, cheated, or cheated at, at some point in our lives. And the cast had chemistry. However, there's nothing unique about the story or the plot. Even the actors are generic: a good-looking husband, the pretty housewife, and the hot other woman. The film simply portrays love and desire and the effects of infidelity-- but it will hold your attention, nonetheless.

I have read one novel on infidelity, wherein the wife was gorgeous and the other woman looked plain and easy to look at-- still the good-looking husband had an affair with the plain-looking girl. The novel, though, delved deeper into the psychology behind cheating and why women sometimes fall for married men. They were presented equally: all three of them flawed, human and weak. All victims. In No Other Woman, there wasn't much to explain: Curtis is too hot for Ramsay to resist, and Ramsay is a salesman/former playboy. It just triggers the question whether all men are polygamous by default. Actually, the movie suggests that a monogamous man does not exist. And we are just there to watch the movie and feel the drama unfold in such a situation.

Cristine Reyes plays Cha, the pretty nouveau rich wife.

In No Other Woman, directed by Ruel Santos Bayani, the problem was the performance by some of the supporting actors and the extras. A film should not only focus on the performance of the main stars, but down to the nameless nurse with the one line. Poor acting, even from the extras, loses the film's credibility. Extras and supporting actors are all part of the movie and have the obligation to perform with quality. Otherwise, a movie loses its "touch of reality." It makes things feel fake. This is not a classroom play, anyway; this is a major feature film that's supposed to provide real acting craft. Even Ramsay's best buddy in the movie only acted through words, never in the eyes. It makes one cringe to hear or watch a subpar performance in a film, particularly in a drama, because it's supposed to reel you inside its world.

Derek Ramsey and Anne Curtis play with fire.

The natural in the film was Derek Ramsay, who smoothly transformed into his role; he was believable and convincing. As well as the veteran Tirso Cruz III, who played Curtis' father. The movie was 80% in English, and only Derek Ramsay was easy and comfortable to listen to since he's a native English speaker. Anne Curtis, though, in her role as a liberated former New Yorker, went a bit overboard with her role; she was too theatrical, injecting too much sultriness in her voice and too much throaty laughter and aggressive movements, and she was a tad more unnatural with her American English accent than her already unnatural English accent, lolling and rolling the English words in her tongue so unnaturally that it irks me. On the other hand, Cristine Reyes, who skips between good and bad acting in the film, apparently speaks unsophisticated English, but it was justified by the filmmakers in the movie, giving her a role as the daughter of a nouveau rich family-- meaning, rich but with no class and sophistication. Her mother, played by Carmi Martin, is a former wet market vendor who accumulated an immense wealth. New money, so to speak. That's why even Reyes' sister in the movie, although dressed in shiny, dazzling and expensive outfit, was made to speak like a "palenkera" for consistency, even going so far as to declare in the movie (obviously for clarity's sake) that they are, actually, nouveau rich, what with all their flashy and gold furniture.

But what made the film emotionally engaging was not only because of its direct-to-the-point screenplay and engaging dialogue, but also the main actors' emotional expressions. The subtleties, like the mere glances, the tensing of the muscles, the suspcicious looks, the guilty eyes and the quivering lips...the body language accurately captured, exploding with meaning. And the appropriate close-up shots and cinematography needed to emotionally connect with the viewers were there, as well as the quick, dramatic tears that fall easily from the actors' eyes in perfect timing. This, on top of a quick-paced screenplay, has made the movie---despite its flaws and ordinary plot---passably good.

Philippine mainstream movie, you are almost there.

3 out of 5 stars

Official PEx post